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LETTERS 


FROM 


MALTA AND SICILY. 





























S JP E KOMAR A 

























LETTERS 


FROM 


MALTA AND SICILY, 


ADDRESSED TO 


A YOUNG NATURALIST. 




BY GEORGE WARING, 

•r * 

AUTHOR OF “ CHILDREN’S MISSIONS,” &C, &C. 



HARVEY AND D ARTUN, 

GR ACFCHUKCH-STttKET. 


I»43. 

iir 






LONDON: 

PRINTED BY JOSEPH RICKERBY, 
SHERBOURN LANE. 




LETTERS FROM MALTA AND SICILY. 


LETTER I. 

Steam-Packet, “ Flamer,” 

Gibraltar Harbour , Nov. 18 th y 1833. 

Some years ago, when reading that most in¬ 
teresting book, “ Drinkwater’s History of the 
Siege of Gibraltar,” I thought that nothing 
could give me greater pleasure than a visit to 
the wonderful “ rock,” where our countrymen 
made such a gallant defence and endured so 
many hardships. And now, when my desire 
has unexpectedly been gratified, what can be 
more tantalizing than my present situation— 
in the harbour of Gibraltar, but not allowed 
to set my foot upon the shore. 


B 



\ 


2 LETTERS FROM 

When we left Falmouth, that town had not 
yet been officially declared quite free from 
the cholera ; consequently we could not be 
furnished with “ a clean bill of health,” as it 
is called, and for want of this we are pre¬ 
vented from landing at any healthy port in 
the Mediterranean without first performing 
quarantine. Is not this vexatious ? We are 
lying close to the pier, and a plank reaches 
from our vessel to the shore, but if any of 
our company were to step a single yard be¬ 
yond the middle of this forbidden bridge, he 
would immediately be addressed in no very 
gentle terms by a surly officer, called a 
“ Health Guardian,” who is continuallj r walk¬ 
ing backwards and forwards on the quay, and 
if his admonitions should be disregarded, a 
sentinel with a loaded musket is close at 
hand, with orders to shoot any obstinate 
transgressor of the quarantine regulations. 




MALTA AND SICILY. 


3 


But I must not forget your parting injunc¬ 
tion, to send you not only a description of 
the natural productions I might meet with in 
the course of my land wanderings, but also 
a relation of anything remarkable that might 
occur during our voyages from place to place. 
Though the distance to Malta is only about 
half accomplished, we have already met with 
an adventure which threatened a most dis¬ 
astrous termination to our voyage, though, 
happily, it has only occasioned a few days’ 
delay, by obliging us to put back to this 
port to repair our damages. The date of this 
letter will show you that something unusual 
must have happened to have detained us 
here so long, for you may remember that the 
packet left Falmouth on the sixth of this 
month. 

That day was so dismally cold, and wet, 
that it was quite consoling to think that 

b 2 


4 


LETTERS FROM 


in a very few days we should have left this 
November weather behind us, and should 
be luxuriating in the delights of a more 
temperate climate and clearer atmosphere. 
About eleven in the forenoon the commander 
of the packet came on board with the mail¬ 
bags, upon which we immediately weighed 
anchor, and paddled out of the harbour. We 
had not proceeded many miles, however, before 
we began both to hear and to feel a very unplea¬ 
sant thumping at every stroke of the engines. 
This soon increased to such a degree that 
the order was given to “ stop her.” We now 
learned that one of the piston-rods, which 
was making its first voyage, was rather too 
long, so that it came in contact with the bot¬ 
tom of the cylinder at every stroke of the 
engine. After an hour or more spent in 
fruitless attempts to remedy this defect, our 
engineers were at length obliged to dis- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


5 


connect the starboard, or right-hand engine, 
from the main shaft, and we proceeded by 
the power of one engine alone—our speed, 
however, was still about six miles an hour. The 
engineers, poor fellows, were toiling all the 
remainder of that day and a great part of the 
night in shortening the piston-rod by cutting 
off nearly half an inch of the top with cold 
chisels and hammers, an operation which the 
motion of the vessel made it very difficult to 
perform, causing the men frequently to miss 
their blows, and occasioning not a few sadly 
bruised fingers and bleeding knuckles. A 
portable blacksmith’s forge was brought upon 
deck, and one man was almost constantly 
employed in repairing the chisels broken or 
blunted in this most tedious chipping opera¬ 
tion. 

On going on deck the next morning we 
could see no land in any direction. The 


6 


LETTERS FROM 


wind being directly against us we were pre¬ 
vented from setting any sail, and for want of 
this to keep her steady, the vessel rolled 
tremendously. This most distressing motion 
very soon compelled me to seek for consola¬ 
tion in my snug little state-room, where I 
remained the whole of that day and the fol¬ 
lowing night, not very unwell, but in that 
doubtful state which made absolute repose 
delightful. This first stage of sea-sickness 
is not at all unpleasant to me so long as I 
remain perfectly quiet, but any great exer¬ 
tion of body or of mind will soon bring on a 
more advanced and suffering stage of the 
disorder. Even the exertion of reading be¬ 
comes intolerable if continued for more than 
five or ten minutes. 

The next day (Friday, 8th) it blew very 
hard from the northward, causing what one 
of our officers called “ a nasty tumble of a 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


7 


sea,” but as the wind was more favourable we 
could now set some canvass, which prevented 
our vessel from rolling so vehemently. About 
noon it suddenly occurred to me, that sea¬ 
sickness was a disease of the imagination 
only, and that it might be conquered by a 
strong effort; pleased with this idea, I im¬ 
mediately dressed and went on deck, but in 
less than two hours I was compelled to admit, 
either that the theory was false, or that I had 
not sufficient resolution to give it a fair trial. 
We were now in the midst of that ever- 
troubled sea, the Bay of Biscay. Having 
once more taken refuge in my comfortable 
state-room, 1 resolved not to quit it again till 
the weather should become more moderate. 
However, in the evening our kind-hearted and 
attentive little steward persuaded me to take 
a cup of strong coffee, with a small piece of 
very highly-peppered beefsteak, and shortly 



8 


LETTERS FROM 


after I had swallowed these stimulants all un¬ 
comfortable feelings vanished entirely. I 
spent the rest of the evening very pleasantly 
on deck, conversing with the officers, several 

of whom had suffered severely from sea- 

%> 

sickness. Wishing to prove the efficacy of 
the steward’s prescription, I even descended 
into the engine-room, where neither the suf¬ 
focating heat nor the smell of oil and melted 
tallow could occasion the smallest feeling of 
uneasiness. 

Early the next morning we were delighted 

i 

by seeing the land within a few miles of us 

i 

on the left-hand, and on enquiry it proved to 
be Cape Ortegal, in Spain. The sea was now 
as smooth as a lake, and the weather had 
become so deliciously mild and spring-like, 
that during the last two days we seemed to 
have passed from November into May or 
June. During the greater part of the day 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


9 


our course lay along the romantic coast of 
Gallicia, and we frequently approached within 
two or three miles of the land, which ap¬ 
peared very high and rugged, with scarcely 
a house, or a tree, or any signs of cultiva¬ 
tion. In some few places, however, there 
were fields surrounded by stone walls, and 
we w'ere informed that these were vineyards. 
Some of the mountains had a most singular 
and beautiful outline, topped with perpendi¬ 
cular pinnacles of rocks resembling towers 
and castles, and in one or two places, the 
whole side of a lofty hill as seen from the 
distance of five or six miles, appeared to 
consist of an unbroken expanse of white 
sand. We were surprised that we could not 
discover a single human being on the coast 
during the whole day, though we were con¬ 
tinually employed with our telescopes curi¬ 
ously prying into the nakedness of the land. 



10 


LETTERS FROM 


A most desolate coast indeed it appeared, 
and had it not been for the very few walled 

enclosures, we might have supposed that we 

\ 

had been passing by the shores of an unin¬ 
habited country. 

Our only fellow-passengers from England, 
two officers of high rank in the army, now 
made their appearance on deck for the first 
time since we had left Falmouth. We have 
found them very intelligent, agreeable asso¬ 
ciates, and though one is the son of a lord, and 
his companion nearly related, I believe, to a 
noble family, their manners are perfectly free 
from haughtiness or self-consequence. Far 
be it from me to insinuate that they are not 
always so affable and condescending to their 
inferiors in rank, but, perhaps , their present 
very agreeable behaviour may be partly at¬ 
tributed to the effects of long-continued and 
most distressing sea-sickness, which has con- 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


11 


vinced them that they are but men. It is 
certainly a most humiliating malady ! That 
mortal must be high-minded indeed who 
is not brought down by it into the very 
lowest depths of self-abasement and disgust. 

During the day we saw several gannets, or 
Solan geese, and a great number of birds 
which were like the common murre, except 
that their backs appeared to be of a reddish- 
brown colour. I should have been very glad 
to have shot some of them for the sake of 
their skins, had there been any way of pick¬ 
ing them up without stopping the vessel, 
which, of course, was entirely out of the 
question. It was tantalizing to see these 
birds flying within shot without being able to 
obtain a single specimen. The only vessel 
we saw during the day was a large cutter, 
named the “ Scorpion,” which we passed 
within hail. As it was a dead calm she lay 



12 


LETTERS FROM 


quite motionless on the water, and her crew 
were basking half asleep in the sun. 

At dusk we passed Cape Finisterre, when 
we left the coast, and the next morning 
(Sunday, 10th) we were again out of sight of 
land; but we had two very indistinct views 
of it during the day, once when off Cape 
Mondego, distant forty or fifty miles, and 
again at sunset. About noon we saw a large 
frigate in shore of us, which some on board 
pronounced to be one of Don Pedro’s squad¬ 
ron. The weather was still delightfully fine 
and clear, and the sun so powerful that my 
shipmates were glad to place their seats on 
the shady side of the deck, but you know my 
chilly temperament and cat-like love of bask¬ 
ing in the sunshine too well to suppose that 
I followed their example. As the weather 
was so fine, we had expected that service 
would have been performed on board: per- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


13 


haps this was omitted on account of the in¬ 
disposition of the commander of the packet. 
Some little respect, however, was paid to the 
day by the officers and passengers wearing 
long coats instead of jackets, and by the 
men having a general washing and shaving, 
and appearing in clean clothes. We had 
also rather a better dinner than usual in the 
cabin. 

Early the next morning the steward came 
to me with the information that the Rock of 
Lisbon was in sight, but I did not think it 
worth while to rise to see it, and at our usual 
time of appearing on deck, between eight 
and nine o’clock, no land was visible, nor did 
we approach the coast till evening, when we 
passed within about a quarter of a mile of 
Cape St. Vincent. On the summit of this 
promontory is a large monastery of Augus¬ 
tine Friars, but it was too dark for us to see 


14 


LETTERS FROM 


it distinctly. On this and on the preceding 
evening we witnessed the most splendid sun¬ 
sets imaginable. The sky was perfectly 
clear, with the exception of a few large 
masses of clouds near the horizon in the 
west. When the sun had disappeared, these 
assumed a rich purple tinge, edged with the 
most brilliant crimson, a lighter shade of 
which colour extended more than half-way 
round the horizon, and, assisted by the 
reflection in the water, produced a most 
enchanting spectacle. 

At noon on the following day (Tuesday, 
12th) we came to an anchor in Cadiz har¬ 
bour, about half-a-mile from the town, and 
we immediately hoisted our odious yellow 
quarantine-flag. We had previously fallen 
in with a pilot, who gave his directions to 
our helmsman from his boat towing astern, 
as the quarantine regulations did not allow 


MALTA AND SICILY, 


15 


him to come on board; or, rather, if he had 
come on board he would have been shut up 
for two or three weeks’ purification in a 
lazaret. His knowledge of the English lan¬ 
guage appeared to consist solely of the three 
words, “starboard,” “port,” and “steady;” 
and when he wanted us to start our engines 
he signified his wishes by a very expressive 
revolutionary motion of his hands. Soon 
after our arrival in the harbour, a boat came 
alongside with the English consul, and an 
important personage called the “ Pratique 
Master,” an officer having the general ma- 
nagement of quarantine affairs. In this boat 
were about twenty other gentlemen, some of 
them consuls of various nations. We also 
received a formal visit from the captain of 
the port, who came alongside in a clumsy 
old boat, rowed by no less than fourteen 
oars, and with a great deal of ceremony 


16 


LETTERS FROM 


offered his services to our commander. Our 
“foul bill of health’ 1 prevented any person 
from coming on board, neither would they 
receive our letters and parcels till they had 
been purified by a dipping in a bucket of 
vinegar and water, having first had a large 
chisel driven through them in several places 
in order that the infected air inside might be 
allowed to escape ! Parcels which appeared 
to contain small books and one of silks , did 
not escape this unmerciful discipline of the 
chisel and vinegar-bath, which treatment 
would no doubt entirely ruin the contents, 
and yet, such is the inconsistency of the 
quarantine laws, large boxes were allowed to 
be taken on shore unopened after a simple 
immersion in the sea. 

Were it in my power, I would gladly give 
you some idea of the beautiful picture the 
town of Cadiz presents when seen from the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


17 


water. It appears to be built on a peninsula 
stretching out a long way into the sea, and 
forming an extensive and commodious har¬ 
bour inside. Many of the houses have tur¬ 
rets on the roofs, and as they are built of a 
very light-coloured stone, the town has a 
beautifully clean and cheerful appearance. 
We could see several fine churches, and one 
which we were informed had been in pro¬ 
gress for fifty years, and is still unfinished, 
for want of funds, I conclude. The scene 
was greatly enlivened by multitudes of fish¬ 
ing-boats, which were rigged quite differently 
from any we see on our own coasts, for they 
had only one sail, called a lateen sail, which 
reached from stem to stern. The boatmen 
had as foreign an appearance as their craft; 
most of them had high conical hats, with the 
brims turned up all round, and they all wore 


c 



18 


LETTERS FROM 


a large red or blue shawl tied round then- 
waists. 

The only birds I saw here were great num¬ 
bers of the small gulls called kittiwakes, 
and a common kingfisher, which flew past us 
when we were more than a mile from the 
shore. 

In about two hours we again got under 
weigh, keeping our pilot in tow till we were 
outside of the harbour, and being now out 
of sight of the quarantine officers, he had no 
objection to sell us some fish, which he had 
before refused to do. 

At eight in the evening we passed Cape 
Trafalgar, and at midnight we were opposite 
the revolving light of Tarifa, while on the 
right-hand the African coast was dimly visi¬ 
ble. We had a long passage from Cadiz to 
Gibraltar, which we did not reach till four in 
the morning, 


(Wednesday, 13th,) having 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


19 


had a strong head-wind all the way, with 
a short sea, which drenched us with spray. 
The instant our anchor was let go one of our 
nine-pounders was fired to give notice of our 
arrival. As I had been too much interested 
in this part of the voyage to leave the deck, 
I was now glad to sleep for a few hours, and 
in the morning I found that we were lying 
close to a pier, called “ the New Mole.” 
This is a considerable distance from the 
town of Gibraltar, of which we can see very 
little, therefore my observations on this most 
interesting place will be comprised in a very 
few words. 

This celebrated “ rock” is about fourteen 
hundred feet above the level of the sea, and 
towards the east is nearly, if not quite, per¬ 
pendicular. The town is situated on the 
western side, where there appears to be a 
considerable tract of nearly level ground. 

c 2 


20 


LETTERS FROM 


The part of the hill opposite us has a deso¬ 
late and barren aspect, the vegetation con¬ 
sisting chiefly of low, stunted bushes, but 
towards the bottom are some pretty houses 
and gardens, surrounded with hedges of ge¬ 
raniums. We can also distinguish with a 
telescope many aloes and prickly-pear 
bushes growing apparently wild among the 
rocks. On nearly the highest point is a small 
signal-tower, from which a gun is fired at 
sunset and again at eight o’clock, imme¬ 
diately after which we hear the drums of the 
different regiments beating to quarters. At 
present there are said to be about five 
thousand men in the garrison, and upwards 
of four hundred guns on the batteries. 

I had hoped to have seen, by the help of 
a telescope, some of the monkeys which still 
inhabit the upper part of the rock, but 1 
have since been told that the few which 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


21 


remain are generally to be found on the 
other side, which station they seldom quit 
except during violent gales of wind from the 
eastward; and my informant added, that at 
such times he had seen them scrambling 
over the top of the hill in a great hurry and 
consternation. On inquiring what these 
poor monkeys could find to subsist on in 
such a situation, he said, that he believed 
their food consisted chiefly of lizards and 
the fruit of the prickly-pear bushes. As 
there are no wild monkeys in any other part 
of Europe, it is supposed that this colony 
was established by some tame animals which 
had made their escape from captivity. 

The quarantine regulations are, if possi¬ 
ble, still more strict in this port than at 
Cadiz. The letters were taken to an office 
to be fumigated, but positive orders are 
issued that all parcels shall remain on board 


22 


LETTERS FROM 


till the packet touches here on her return to 
England from the Ionian islands, by which 
time it is supposed that any latent infection 
will either have declared itself or have be¬ 
come extinct. Notwithstanding this prohi¬ 
bition, a large tin box, closely soldered up 
on all sides, containing, as we were informed, 
a suit of clothes for an officer in the garri¬ 
son, was sent on shore with no other purifi¬ 
cation than a very slight and partial w ashing 
of the outside of the box with salt-water. 
Our purchases are effected without any con¬ 
tact between the parties. The articles are 
deposited on the w r ide plank reaching from 
our vessel to the quay-wall, and our money 
is indeed treated as “ filthy lucre,” for it is 
always received in a pair of tongs, and well 
washed in the sea by the health-guardian. 
When we wish to send a letter on shore we 
drop it into a tin box which is placed on the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


‘23 


plank, and having retired, the health-guardian 
comes forward, closes the box, and sends the 
pestiferous contents to the fumigating-office. 

Among many others who came down to 
the Mole to look at the packet on the day 
we arrived were two Barbary Jews, who were 
so disgusting and so unlike' human beings in 
their appearance, that at first sight I almost 
thought that a couple of the monkeys had 
come down from the top of the rock to pay 
us a visit. They were dressed in loose, dirty 
gowns and yellow slippers, but their legs, 
which were of a mahogany colour, were quite 
bare. They regarded us with so much as¬ 
tonishment that we concluded they had never 
seen a steam-vessel before, and their wonder 
wtis expressed by a great deal of baboon- 
like chattering and gesticulation. 

The three days that we remained here on 
our first visit were so dismally wet that we 


24 


LETTERS FROM 


were in some measure reconciled to the dis¬ 
appointment of not being allowed to go on 
shore. During this dull weather the top of 
the rock was frequently hidden in clouds and 
mists, to the great annoyance of the poor 
monkeys, no doubt. We amused ourselves 
during the intervals of the rain by explor¬ 
ing the country with our telescopes, by pistol¬ 
shooting, and by fishing; but in the latter* 
sport we had not much success, catching 
only some little things called coal-fish, and 
one or two other sorts which were strangers 
to me. The water, which was beautifully 
clear, was absolutely swarming with these 
small fry, and we could see some very fine 
fish at the bottom, underneath the vessel, but 
these were too cunning to venture their lives 
for our baits. 

Our crew were busily employed in stowing 
away the coals, which were thrown on the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


25 


deck by the people belonging to the wharf. 
Many of these men are a mixed race, be¬ 
tween English and Spaniards, and have re¬ 
ceived from sailors the whimsical name of 
“ Rock Scorpions .” The engine-men were 
engaged in the disagreeable duty of cleaning 
out the boilers, in which the sediment, tech¬ 
nically called “ the scruff” was nearly an 
inch in thickness, and of a stony hardness. 
While these two operations, taking in coal 
and boiler-cleaning are going on, there is no 
peace nor comfort on board a steam-vessel. 
The incessant clang of the “ scruffing-ham- 
mers” is so unpleasant that temporary deaf¬ 
ness would be a blessing; but the dust from 
the coals is a still more intolerable an¬ 
noyance. Every person and thing on board 
assumes more or less a tinge of black, and it 
appears quite impossible that the deck 
should ever be made tolerably clean again. 


26 


LETTERS FROM 


This is, however, effected by an operation 
called “ holystoning ,” which is performed 
by scrubbing the planks with flat stones, 
assisted by sand and water. I cannot give 
you the derivation of the above term, but I 
know that by means of this process our black, 
filthy deck was at last made to look re- 
splendently white. 

Our vessel is about four hundred and fifty 
tons register, and has two sixty horse-power 
engines; these do not work very quietly, 
from which cause and from weakness in the 
vessel, there is often a very unpleasant tre¬ 
mulous motion. Our greatest speed during 
the voyage to this place was nine knots per 
hour; this was in a dead calm, and with per¬ 
fectly smooth water, under which circum¬ 
stances the Flamer goes much faster than 
with a fair wind and a moderate sea. I 
conclude that this is the case with all 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


27 


steam-vessels, for the advantage gained by 
a fair wind on the sails is more than coun¬ 
terbalanced by the increased motion of the 
water and of the vessel interfering with the 
proper action of the paddles, which are 
sometimes immersed too deeply, at others 
hardly touch the water at all. 

Our crew consists of a commander, master, 
two mates,* a surgeon, purser, gunner, boat¬ 
swain, carpenter, armourer, quarter-master, 
three cooks, two stewards, and a boy, three 
engineers, eight firemen, thirteen seamen, 
and two apprentices,—total forty-three. The 
duties of the vessel are carried on with the 
greatest order and decorum, the officers 
giving their orders without bullying, and the 
men performing their tasks cheerfully. Ex- 

* Midshipmen who have passed their examination, 
and are therefore qualified to receive the rank of lieu¬ 


tenant. 


28 


LETTERS FROM 


cept when taking in coal, everything is kept 
scrupulously clean and neat. Early every 
morning there is a vehement scrubbing and 
washing of the deck, the noise of which over 
our heads is not very pleasant to those who 
like to indulge in a comfortable morning’s nap. 

Our cabin is very neatly fitted up, but in 
quite a plain style, with very little ornamen¬ 
tal work. The ceiling is decorated with pis¬ 
tols, cutlasses, and signal-rockets; and on 
deck we have two beautiful long brass nine- 
pounders. Our state-rooms are comfortable, 
and well-ventilated. They each contain two 
berths, one over the other; but as there are 
so few passengers, we escape the misery of 
the close companionship which is the conse¬ 
quence of this very common, but most bar¬ 
barous and disgusting arrangement. We 
find the unoccupied berth a very convenient 
substitute for a chest of drawers. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


29 


On the evening of Friday, November 15, 
when it was too dark for us to enjoy the view 
of the rock, and of the opposite coast of 
Africa, we left the harbour, and proceeded 
on our voyage with a strong breeze from the 
eastward, and a considerable sea. Our com¬ 
pany was now increased by three gentlemen 
from Gibraltar; but as the ladies’ cabin was 
unoccupied, we still enjoyed the undivided 
possession of our state-rooms. We have also 
had an agreeable addition to our party, in my 
opinion, at least, in the shape of a playful, 
good-tempered pointer. But though Daphne 
amuses us by her tricks and gambols, I fear 
she has been the means of introducing 
among us a colony of fleas, from which we 
had hitherto been free, but which have an¬ 
noyed some of us more or less since her ar¬ 
rival on board. 

During the night and the following day, 


30 


LETTERS FROM 


we steered direct for Cape de Gata, a pro¬ 
montory in Spain, about two hundred miles 
from Gibraltar. This course earned us a 
considerable distance from the land, but we 
were near enough to have a most magnificent 
view of the mountains of Granada, and espe¬ 
cially of the Sierra Nevada, or snowy moun¬ 
tain, so named from its summit being gene¬ 
rally, if not always covered with snow'. One 
of our fellow-passengers informed us that this 
mountain is the highest land in Spain. 

At eleven at night we were off Cape de 
Gata, or “ Cape de Gatt,” as it is usually 
called by sailors, who give this headland an 
ill name, and believe, or pretend to believe, 
that a misfortune of some kind almost always 
befalls them when they pass it. In proof of 
this, they are fond of repeating two fines: 

“ Oft’ Cape de Gatt 
I lost my hat.” 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


31 


I wish that no worse misfortune than the 
loss of a hat had befallen us off this unlucky 
Cape, but we had scarcely passed it, when 
the accident happened which, as I have in- 
formed you at the beginning of this letter, 
has obliged us to put back to this port 
(Gibraltar) to repair our damages. 

About twelve o’clock, as several of our 
company were seated round the table in the 
cabin, we heard loud voices, and a running 
to and fro over head. Fearing that a man 
had fallen overboard, we hastened on deck, 
and here the cause of the alarm was appa¬ 
rent. Notwithstanding the gloom of a cloudy 
midnight, we could see a large brig, not fifty 
yards off, running down before the wind di¬ 
rectly upon us; and though the officer of the 

watch and others were hailing her with all 
their might, she continued her course, as if 
determined upon our destruction. And now 


32 


LETTERS FROM 


tlie cry was, “ Stop tlie engines—stop her, or 
she’ll be on board of us !” But this order 
was either given too late, or it should not 

have been given at all, for the next instant 

• 

the fearful shock took place, the stem of the 
brig striking us just abaft the larboard pad¬ 
dle-box, smashing the quarter-boat and the 
bulwarks on that side, and stripping away 
all the shrouds of the mainmast and the 
iron stays of the chimney. At this juncture, 
seeing the brig’s jib-boom just over my head, 
I jumped down the companion-ladder, to 
avoid being struck by it. 

Immediately going upon deck again, 1 
found everything in frightful confusion. A 
man met me, exclaiming, “ It’s all over, sir ! 
she is going down with us !” and there were 
cries of, “ She has cut us right in half!” and 
<£ Lower away the boats ! ” By this time the 
brig had got clear of us, and was some dis- 


MALTA AND SICILY.* 33 

tance astern. Notwithstanding our energetic- 
bailings to heave to for us, her people re¬ 
turned no answer, but a light was now visible 
for the first time since she had been seen. 
She continued her course as if nothing had 
happened, and we might have fancied from 
the dead silence on board her, that she had 
been a “ phantom ship,” if she had not 
given us a proof that she was composed of 
very substantial and unyielding materials. 

For some minutes after this fearful en¬ 
counter we continued in the greatest alarm, 
every person on board believing that his last 
hour was come; for we concluded that our 
vessel must be in a sinking state from the 
effects of the violent shock she had received, 
and there appeared very little chance of 
safetv in the boats, as there was a good deal 
of sea running, and we were at least twenty 
miles from the nearest land. We were fifty 


D 


34 


LETTERS FROM 


in number, and as our largest boat had been 
earned away, we had only a small gig and a 
jolly-boat remaining. However, we were 
proceeding to hoist out the latter, for the gig 
was already in the water, at some distance 
from us, with a midshipman and five or six 
hands in her, when an officer came aft with 
• the joyful intelligence, that as yet there was 
no water in the hold, and that he believed 
the engines and paddle-wheels were unin¬ 
jured. 

Never to my ears had the human voice 
sounded so melodiously before. For nearly 
two hours we were now busily engaged in 
securing the chimney and masts by tempo¬ 
rary shrouds and stays, while the engines 
were worked gently to keep the vessel’s head 
to the sea to prevent her from rolling; for 
as the chimney was entirely unsupported on 
one side, there was the greatest danger that 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


35 


with the motion of the vessel it would fall 
overboard, and if this had happened we 
should have been in a sadly crippled condi¬ 
tion indeed. When this danger was happily 
averted, we proceeded to ascertain what 
further damage we had received, and by the 
help of lanterns we could see that in the place 
where the brig struck us she had left a large 
piece of her “ cutwater,” as it is called, firmly 
wedged into the hole she had made in our 
side. Several of the planks of our deck 
were also split and forced upwards. After 
enduring such a violent concussion, is it not 
wonderful that our vessel continued nearly, 
if not quite as tight as before the accident ? 
Everybody seemed to take it for granted that 
she would resent such rough treatment by be¬ 
coming incorrigibly leaky, but happily every¬ 
body was very much mistaken. And yet the 
Flamer is not considered by any means a 


36 


LETTERS FROM 


strongly-built vessel, and the tremulous mo¬ 
tion, the strange sort of shuddering Jit she so 
often experiences when the engines are at work, 
proves that her frame is not very robust. 

Finding that there was not much proba¬ 
bility of our being compelled to take refuge 
in our boats, we now hoisted in the gig, and 
a sea striking her just as she was brought 
alongside, she received a blow which ren¬ 
dered her perfectly unserviceable. What a 
pitiable condition we should now have been 
in if any misfortune had befallen us before 
we reached a port; for our only remaining 
hope, the jolly-boat, would not have safely 
carried more than twelve persons. 

When our battered vessel was in tolerably 
sea-worthy condition again, our commander 
held a short consultation with his officers. 
He then informed us, that it was their united 
opinion, that in our present state it would be 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


37 


quite unsafe to proceed against a head-wind 
and sea to Algiers, the nearest port in our 
track, where we could receive the necessary 
assistance for repairing the damages, and 
that, therefore, he had determined to return to 
Gibraltar. Accordingly about two o’clock in 
the morning, (Sunday 17tli,) we bore up, and 
reached this port in safety at nine at night. 
We again fired a gun, and burnt a blue-light; 
this so strongly illuminated every part of the 
vessel, that the people on shore could have 
had no difficulty in making out who we were, 
and, doubtless, many were the wonderings 
and conjecturings about the cause of our 
return. 

We kept a good look out for the brig all 
the way from Cape de Gatt, and seeing 
nothing of her, we thought it possible that 
she might have reached this port before us. 
This not being the case, we are under serious 


38 


LETTERS FROM 


apprehensions that she has foundered, for 
it is not at all probable that she would 
pass the Straits without putting into some 
port to repair. From the short and imper¬ 
fect view we had of her, she appeared to be 
a vessel of about two hundred tons, and from 
her jib-boom and other parts left on our 
deck, she is supposed to be a foreigner. As 
far as I am able to judge, the accident was 
occasioned solely by the negligence of her 
people in not carrying a light, and in not 
keeping a look out, for we always had a large 
lantern on each paddle-box. But the 
opinion of a landsman is not of much 
value in these cases. 

We have been detained here a shorter 
time than we had expected, for seven or 
eight ship carpenters were immediately sent 
on board, and have been hard at work day 
and night. The part of the vessel under re- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


39 


pair is separated by ropes, stretched across, 
to prevent our people having any communi¬ 
cation with them. The piece of the brig’s 
cutwater, left in our side, is about six feet 
long and two broad. Everybody here joins 

i 

us in the opinion that we have had a 
most wonderful and providential escape, 
and that had the vessel struck us in any 
other part, we should most certainly have 
foundered, for where we received the blow 
there is a sort of false side, made of thick 
plank, which broke the force of the shock 
considerably. 

Last night it blew a heavy gale from the 
eastward, but the wind became more mode¬ 
rate towards morning, and this has been the 
hottest day we have had since leaving Eng¬ 
land. The thermometer in the cabin now 
stands at seventy degrees, though as much 
air as possible is admitted, and the boiler- 


40 


LETTERS FROM 


fires have been extinguished for so many 
hours that the temperature cannot be affected 
by them. 

A salute of twenty-one guns has just been 
fired from a battery of eighteen-pounders in 
honour of the birthday of the queen of 
Spain. The echo from the rock was very 
grand. 

Our commander says that we shall sail 
in the afternoon. A messenger has just come 
down to the Mole for our letters, and 1 must 
conclude. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


41 


LETTER II. 


Lazaret, Malta, Dec. 4th, 1833 . 

A few hours after I had closed my last letter, 
our repairs were completed, though in a very 
rough and temporary manner, and we once 
more took our departure from Gibraltar. 
As we had now the advantage of daylight, 
we had a fine view of the rock, and of the 
opposite coast of Africa, where the most re¬ 
markable object was a mountain called Ape’s 
Hill, near to which lies the town of Ceuta. 
The gale of the preceding night had raised a 
tremendous swell, which continued during 
the next day, and occasioned the vessel to 
roll very uneasily. Instead of steering for 
the unlucky Cape de Gatt again, we now 


4*2 


LETTERS FROM 


shaped a course which carried us within 
sight of the African coast, about the middle 
of the second day after we left Gibraltar. 
On the first day we saw no land, though we 
passed very near to Alboran, a small unin¬ 
habited island, which at some seasons of the 
year is said to abound with turtle. 

At nine the next morning (Thursday 21st) 
we passed the meridian of Greenwich. The 
water had now become tolerably smooth, and 
we began to enjoy ourselves again. Though 
we were no longer annoyed by sea-sickness, 
the violent and incessant rolling motion we 
had experienced for the last day or two, was 
very unpleasant, and almost irritating, making 
it impossible for us to walk, or sit, or lie with 
any degree of comfort. We saw the African 
coast once or twice during the day, but so 
indistinctly, that I should have supposed it 
to have been a cloud on the horizon. A 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


43 


shoal of Albicores were observed chasing 
some flying-fish, but the latter, though seen 
by some on board, were not visible to my 
eyes. 

We passed Algiers at four o’clock in the 
morning of Friday 22nd, and we much re¬ 
gretted that it was too dark for us to obtain 
a view of this celebrated place. On this day 
our course lay along the coast of Barbary, at 
the distance of five or ten miles; but from 
the thickness of the atmosphere, we had not 
nearly so clear a view of the land as we had 
on the coast of Spain and Portugal. The 
hills were of moderate height, and many of 
them were covered with low woods to the 
summit. With our telescopes we discovered 
many cultivated spots; and from the number 
of fires seen along the coast, we concluded 
that it must have been rather thickly inha¬ 
bited. About noon we were off a large 


44 


LETTERS FROM 


shabby town, the name of which was un¬ 
known to any on board. I felt a great desire 
to land and explore this wild country, but 
one of our officers assured me that I should 
very soon wish myself on board again, as the 
coast was infested by roving parties of Arabs, 
by no means famed for their civility to stran¬ 
gers, especially when few in number, and 
unarmed. In the middle of the day the 
sun was so powerful that I was at last 
obliged to seek shelter from his rays, though 
in the shade the thermometer did not rise 
higher than 63°, the temperature of the water 
being 65°. Only one sail, and that a small 
fishing-boat, was seen during the day. In the 
evening we had a distant view of some lofty 
mountains, a continuation of the Atlas chain; 
and about midnight we passed within six or 
eight miles of Cape Bugeroni. 

During the day we had been annoyed by 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


45 


a long heavy swell from the northward, which 
increased towards evening, and caused our 
unstable vessel to roll so violently that we 
all passed nearly a sleepless night. From 
sad experience, I fear that H. M. S. P. 
Flamer, is very much addicted to this most 
distressing motion, even more so than others 
of the smoky sisterhood. We had quite 
recovered from our sea malady, but how 
could we sleep when we were rolled over 
from our backs to our sides, and back again, 
every half-second ? 

During our voyage from Gibraltar to Cape 
de Gatt and back, and again from Gibraltar 
to the coast of Africa, the current which 
usually sets so strongly through the Straits 
from the westward, was so slight, that our 
position was not sensibly affected by it. 
This may be accounted for by the prevalence 
of strong easterly winds, which have a ten- 


LETTERS FROM 


40 

deucy to depress the water of the Mediter¬ 
ranean, and to force it out through the 
Straits, thereby diminishing, or for a short 
time even quite counteracting, the usual cur¬ 
rent. The same effect would be produced 
by the cessation of strong westerly gales, 
which would raise the water of the Mediter¬ 
ranean above its usual level, and if, while in 
this state of over-repletion, the wind should 
suddenly shift round to the eastward, it ap¬ 
pears quite possible that for a time the 
current through the Straits might even set to 
the westward. 

I remember we used to be taught at school, 
that the cause of this flow of water into the 
Mediterranean, was the prodigious evapora¬ 
tion which takes place from its surface, occa¬ 
sioning a loss, which even the many mighty 
rivers which empty themselves into it cannot 
supply. But I do not know whether such 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


47 


an explanation is ever given in the present 
day. As I have not for some years read any 
observations on the cause of this extraor¬ 
dinary current, perhaps the speculations 
which follow may contain nothing new on 
the subject, but they may be so to you, and 
therefore I shall insert them. 

It appears to me very easy to prove, that 
this influx of water cannot be occasioned by 
evaporation. For by a rough calculation of 
the whole contents of the Mediterranean, of 
the quantity of water annually poured in 
through the Straits, and of the proportion ol 
salt contained in that water, I find that in 
two or three centuries the quantity of solid 
matter carried into the sea, will equal in 
bulk the whole of the water it contains. So 
that the Mediterranean would no longer be a 
sea, but a vast accumulation of solid salt. 

Another cause that has sometimes been 


48 


LETTERS FROM 


assigned for this current, is the great loss of 
water occasioned by the absorption of the 
vast sandy deserts on the northern coast of 
Africa. No doubt these deserts are thirsty 
enough, and they may imbibe and evapo¬ 
rate a great quantity of water; but the 
same difficulty occurs here as before,—what 
becomes of the solid matter ? It would 
either be deposited in the Mediterranean, or 
the continent of Africa would, in every 
two or three hundred years, receive an in¬ 
crease equal in bulk to the whole contents of 
that sea. 

Perhaps such considerations as these may 
have led the inquirers into the cause of this 
phenomenon to conclude that the Mediter¬ 
ranean must have an outlet somewhere, by 
which the prodigious quantity of water 
poured in through the Straits may be again 
discharged. I leave the rivers out of the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


49 


question, because as the water they supply is 
fresh, it may be supposed to be all lost by 
evaporation, without occasioning any deposit 
of solid matter. Now, although at the only 
visible communication with the main ocean, 
at Gibraltar, there is almost always a strong 
inward current at the surface , it has been 
supposed that at the bottom there is an 
equal flow of water from the Mediterranean 
into the Atlantic. I have never heard that 
the existence of such a counter-current has 
been proved, though it certainly would not 
be very difficult to ascertain it. But has any 
cause ever been assigned for this extraor¬ 
dinary contrary motion of the water ? 

Should it, however, be proved, that the 
waters of the Mediterranean are not dis¬ 
charged through the same channel by which 
they are received, then we may be certain 
that there exists a subterraneous passage in 

E 


50 


LETTERS FROM 


some part of this sea; but the situation of 
this extraordinary tunnel, its course and 
place of exit, must, I conclude, ever remain 
matter of vague conjecture. I wish it were 
in my power to give you any further informa¬ 
tion on this interesting question, but I have 
now no opportunity of consulting books on 
the subject. 

On Saturday the 23rd, the water became 
smoother, the weather still continuing very 
fine and mild. We were at too great a dis¬ 
tance from the African coast to distinguish 
more than the bare outline; but in the after¬ 
noon we passed very near to Galita, a high 
rocky island, about three miles in length. It 
appeared to be uninhabited, but we were in¬ 
formed that there are multitudes of rabbits 
on it, the progeny of a few pairs left there 
some years ago. 

On Sunday nothing remarkable occurred? 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


51 


except that in the morning we spoke the 
Rainbow frigate, homeward bound from 
Malta, commanded by Sir John Franklin, 
the Polar navigator. An officer was sent on 
board us to learn the news from England. 
Our commander sent them an English leg 
of mutton, which is considered a very great 
delicacy by those who have been long from 
home. At noon we passed within about five 
miles of Pantellaria, an island twenty or 
thirty miles in circumference. The top was 
entirely concealed by clouds. I have been 
informed that convicts are sent to this island 
from Italy and Sicily. It is said that on the 
summit there is a large lake of unfathomable 
depth, probably the crater of an extinct 
volcano. 

Early in the morning of Monday 25th, 
we were off the harbour of Valetta, the chief 
town of Malta; but as it was too dark for us 

E *2 


52 


LETTERS FROM 


to venture in, we lay to for an hour, and let 
off some rockets to give notice of our arri¬ 
val. One of these rockets reminded me of my 
first essays in the pyrotechnic art, for instead 
of mounting gloriously into the heavens, it 
darted off in a horizontal direction, and 
plunged into the sea before it was half burnt 
out. By seven o’clock we were moored in 
the quarantine harbour, where the packet 
remained twenty-four hours to take in a sup¬ 
ply of coals, and to allow time for the mails 
to be made up. We were now informed 
that we must undergo fourteen days purifica¬ 
tion in our present quarters, the lazaret, but 
our two fellow-passengers from England, who 
were bound for Alexandria, escaped this im¬ 
prisonment, embarking the same day in a 
steamer for the Levant. The three gentle¬ 
men from Gibraltar have apartments next to 
ours, and these are our only companions in 
captivity at present. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


53 


The lazaret is a very large building*, with 
a square court in the middle, from which a 
wide flight of steps ascends to an open 
gallery running all round, and communicat¬ 
ing with the different apartments. The 
ground-floor is used for warehouses, fumi- 
gating-rooms, and other offices. With the 
exception of the doors and window-frames, 
I believe there is not a particle of wood 
about this building; the walls, floors, and 
roof of which are composed of a soft light- 
coloured stone, resembling Bath stone. The 
apartment allotted to my companion and 
myself is an immense dismal place, forty- 
three feet long, twenty-six broad, and about 
twenty high, with the roof supported upon 
arches. This room serves us for bed-room, 
dining-room, and drawing-room, but at pre¬ 
sent it has very much the appearance of a 
laundry , for we have been ordered to un- 


54 


LETTERS FROM 


pack all our clothes, and to hang them upon 
lines. The walls of this airy apartment are 
ten feet in thickness, and there are six large 
folding-doors, which do not shut very closely. 
The only articles of furniture provided by 
the establishment are a few rush-bottomed 
chairs, a deal table, and two bedsteads, 
which have neither sacking nor posts. All 
other necessaries, beds, linen, cooking-uten¬ 
sils, &c. we have been obliged to hire ; but, 
as the innkeepers in the town are constantly 
in the habit of providing these articles, the 
only difficulty lay in deciding which of the 
various applicants to prefer. There is a fire¬ 
place in our room, but we have hitherto 
had no occasion to use it, for the weather 
has been delightfully mild, and though the 
building is composed entirely of stone, and 
its base is washed by the sea, there is no 
feeling of dampness or chilliness even on 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


55 


coming into it from the hot sunshine. We 
have no carpet of any sort over the floor, 
from which we suffer no inconvenience ex¬ 
cept from the dust produced by the wearing 
away of the soft stone. 

The first night we passed here was rather 
a dismal time, for as we were strangers to 
the customs of the place, we had not yet 
engaged a servant nor procured a proper 
supply of food, and the people belonging to 
the lazaret would not give us the smallest 
assistance. However, we made a meal on 
some dry bread and some milk, which had 
been sent from the inn, and about seven 
o’clock, feeling rather cold and very misera¬ 
ble we went to bed. 

But we are now quite comfortable and 
happy; we have hired a Maltese servant, an 
active, civil young fellow, very clean in his 
person, and with a tolerable knowledge of 


56 


LETTERS FROM 


English. In conjunction with our fellow- 
prisoners, we have also engaged a boat and 
two men to wait on us during the time of 
our quarantine. This makes our confine¬ 
ment much less irksome, as we are allowed 
to row about the harbour, and to land in one 
or two places with the permission of the 
guardian, who always accompanies us, to 
prevent oiu* having any communication with 
the people on shore, or with other boats. 
For the boat and men we pay only two 
shillings a day, the men providing for them¬ 
selves ; that is, they profess to provide for 
themselves, but I believe they depend very 
much for their support upon the provisions 
which leave our table. 

Our prison is situated close to Fort 
Manuel, on an island opposite Yaletta. Our 
servant crosses over to the town twice a 
day lor our meals, which the innkeeper who 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


57 


supplies us sends down to the water-side 
ready cooked. As a specimen of our man¬ 
ner of living, here follows our bill of fare for 
to-day. First, some excellent fish, like the 
English mullet; secondly, a dish of meat, 
which we at first supposed to have been the 
hinder half of a roasted pig, but which 
proved to be j)art of a lamb dressed with the 
legs and tail on; thirdly, a dish of quails ; 
fourthly, a pigeon-pie; and, lastly, & pear- 
pie. Our dinners are generally finished by 
a desert of oranges, apples, water-melons, 
pomegranates, nuts, or walnuts. The inn¬ 
keeper’s charge for providing ourselves and 
our servant with dinner, and bread, but¬ 
ter, and milk for breakfast and tea, is 
twelve shillings per day. Tea, candles, and 
fuel for cooking are paid for separately. 
For the use of beds, linen, &c. we pay 
about one shilling a day, and our servant has 


58 


LETTERS FROM 


half a dollar a day and his food. The only 
charge made by the establishment is about 
three shillings a day for the guardian. When 
we want any particular article from the inn, 
we write our commissions on a slate, which 
is not considered capable of conveying in¬ 
fection, and is suffered to pass without un¬ 
dergoing any purification. The fumigation 
of letters is thus performed. They are laid 
on shelves in a sort of cupboard ; a quantity 
of straw is then set on fire in a shallow iron 
pan, and the flame having subsided a little, a 
handful or two of composition, of which brim¬ 
stone is the chief ingredient, is thrown over it, 
the pan is placed in the cupboard, and the 
doors are closed. In a few minutes the con¬ 
tents are considered to be sufficiently purified. 

On the opposite side of the harbour is a 
little pebbly beach where we are allowed to 
land, for as it is enclosed between two pro- 


MALTA AND SICrLV. 


59 


jecting angles of the town-walls, it seems to 
be considered a sort of neutral ground. But 
even in this privileged spot a guardian is 
stationed, who speaks his opinion very de¬ 
cidedly when he thinks we approach too 
near to any person whose term of quaran¬ 
tine differs from ours. In this place, which 
we have named “ Chiton Beach,” from our 
finding many specimens of that shell there, 
we often spend several hours very pleasantly, 
searching for curiosities, whether animal, ve¬ 
getable, or mineral, for everything is valu¬ 
able to persons so deeply infected with the 
mania of collecting as ourselves. On this 
beach we sometimes enjoy a delightful 
bathe, though against the advice of all the 
people here, who say that the water is too 
cold at this season, but to our feelings it is 
exceedingly pleasant and warm. In some 
places the bottom is covered with a beautiful 


60 


LETTERS FROM 


kind of polypus, having blue and lilac arms 
or branches, which we at first supposed to 
have been a sea-weed growing on the stones. 
When we bathe or wade in the water, the 
arms of these polypi stick fast to our feet, 
and breaking off, can only be got rid of by 
very hard rubbing. A handful of wet sand 
is the best application for removing them. 

Our collecting ground being of very small 
extent, we have not yet found many curi¬ 
osities. Besides the Chitons before men¬ 
tioned, we find several species of sea and 
land shells, differing from .those of our own 
country; and among others a pretty little 
reversed, or left-handed shell, Clausilia 
tuberculaia. Before I left home, a scien¬ 
tific and most indefatigable collector in¬ 
formed me that these shells were common 
on this island, and he requested me to pro¬ 
cure him some specimens. We have found 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


61 


very few new plants, but I was glad to see 
the true Maiden-hair (Adiantum Capillus 
veneris) growing on the walls of the fortifica¬ 
tions. Withering says that this beautiful 
fern is to be met with in the neighbourhood 
of Barry Island, in Glamorganshire, where, 
however, and in other places, I have diligently 
searched for it without success; but a few 
years ago my sister was more fortunate, find¬ 
ing it growing in abundance on the rocks at 
Dunravon, in the same county. There are 
but few sea-birds here, and I have seen none 
but some gulls, apparently the same species 
as our own, and a pretty little sand-piper, 
which would not allow me to approach very 
near. I have not found many insects. 
Almost the first time I turned over a stone to 
search for some of my favourites, I was 
rather startled by finding two small scorpions 
under it. We sometimes catch a curious 


LETTERS FROM 


62 

little fish, which has the power of adhering 
to any smooth surface under water by means 
of an apparatus like that of the Remora, or 
sucking-fish, from which, however, it differs 
in having the sucker on the belly, instead of 
on the back. We find this little fish on 
the pebbles in the shallow water. 

I have now informed you how we spend 
our time in fine weather. But on wet days, 
and in the evenings, we find no lack of em¬ 
ployment, for in addition to our own little 
library, one of our companions has kindly 
offered us any of his books, of which he has 
several hundred volumes. Then we have 
letters and journals to write, and in wet 
weather we are not without the means of 
taking exercise, for we have bought some 
tennis-balls, which afford us many an hour’s 
healthy amusement, though I believe our 
system of playing is not very scientific. A 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


63 


large unoccupied room makes an excellent 
tennis-court for us. 

Our windows command a fine view of the 
opposite town of Valetta, and of the har¬ 
bour ; and the scene is made very lively and 
amusing by multitudes of boats continually 
passing to and from the lazaret, and the 
vessels in quarantine. These boats bring 
us for sale various kinds of fruits, and 
among others pomegranates, which are about 
the size of an orange, and are full of seeds 
enclosed in a red juicy pulp. There may 
be something agreeable in the idea of eating 
pomegranates in the land of their growth, but 
in my opinion they have little to recommend 
them, except the beautiful colour of the pulp. 
When we purchase anything, the boatmen 
hand it up to us in a sort of scoop or shovel, 
in which we place the money, which, however, 
is not washed in the sea as at Gibraltar. 


()4 


LETTERS FROM 


There is a terrace by the water-side where 
we are allowed to walk, taking care that we 
touch no one, not even the officers of the 
establishment, except the two guardians, 
our keepers, and the boatmen who are in 
quarantine with us. It is amusing to see 
with what extreme care every one avoids us, 
not from the fear of taking any disease, but 
because the slightest touch would subject 
them to the same length of confinement as 
ourselves. “ Noli me tangere ” is every one’s 
motto here. Near the lazaret there is a 
stone gallows, which our guardian, who is 
rather fond of a joke, assures us is intended 
for the execution of those who break out of 
prison ; but really this would be no easy 
task, for in addition to the thick walls of the 
building, we are constantly watched with the 
kindest care imaginable, and the doors are 
always closed soon after sun-set. To confess 



GRAND HARBOUR 





































































MALTA AND SICILY. 


65 

the truth, this locking up is rather irritating 
to my feelings, by continually reminding me 
that I am a prisoner. 

As we are allowed to row about the har¬ 
bour, I thought there could be no harm in 
trying to catch some fish from the boat, and 
accordingly I bought some lines, but 1 was im¬ 
mediately informed that fishing could not be 
permitted without special leave from the super¬ 
intendent of quarantine. Upon applying for 
this permission it was refused, for what reason 
we cannot imagine, unless it was supposed 
that a fish, having taken a bait which had 
been touched by a person in quarantine, 
might escape, and communicate an infectious 
disease to all the other fish in the harbour. 

One day I went over to the town with our 
servant and guardian to fetch our dinner. 
On landing, we went into the Parlatorio, or 
speaking-place , where those who are in 

F 


66 


LETTERS FROM 


quarantine are allowed to hold conversation 
with their friends in the town. It is a 
very long narrow building, divided into 
three parts by two low walls running length¬ 
ways, and about six feet apart, so that the 
healthy and suspected parties have that 
space between them, which effectually pre¬ 
vents any contact. In the middle division 
a guardian is stationed, partly for the purpose 
of handing over any article which those in 
quarantine may buy from the people on the 
healthy side of the house. Here there are 

V 

generally a number of boys in waiting to 
execute any commission for us in the town, 
for which purpose they are provided with 
small slates, on which we write the name of 
any article we wish to procure, or we can 
send a message to our friends in this man¬ 
ner. There is a Parlatorio on a much smaller 
scale at the lazaret. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


()7 


The softness of the stone of which the 
walls of our prison are built, has induced 
many of its inmates to carve their names, 
which are generally accompanied by the 
date and duration of their imprisonment. 
We have not added our names to the list, 

a 

but one day I began to cut the initials of 
some of mj r friends on the bark of one of 
the trees on the terrace, when the old guar¬ 
dian begged me to desist from spoiling the 
tree, adding, “ He feel as well as you ! ” 

We had intended to have spent a few 
hours on Chiton beach this morning, but as 
the guardian stationed there would not allow 
us to land on the part we wished, which was 
the best place for finding shells, like pettish 
children, we showed our resentment by re¬ 
fusing to remain there at all. At a spring, 
employed in filling their water-casks, was a 
party of Greek sailors, some of whom were 


LETTERS FROM 


68 

fine-looking men, and they appeared posi¬ 
tively handsome when compared with the 
very ordinary natives of this island. The 
only tolerably handsome Maltese I have yet 
seen, is the child of one of our boatmen, a 
boy about six years old, and he, I think, 
would be considered a pretty little fellow in 
any country, although, strange to say, he 
bears a strong resemblance to his papa, who 
is a very bull-dog in countenance. But you 
must remember, that almost all the Maltese 
I have hitherto seen, have belonged quite to 
the lower orders. As we rowed round the 
harbour on our return home, we wished to 
gather some beautiful yellow flowers growing 
on the bank, a few yards from the water’s 
edge; but this pleasure was denied us, on 
the ground that it was against orders to 
land in that part. To comfort us for this 
disappointment, the guardian assured us that 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


69 


they were only “ savage flowers? We did 
not attempt to convince our companion-that 
these “ savage flowers” could really be valued 
by persons of sane mind. 

On Sunday morning next we shall be set 
at liberty. The prospect of freedom is very 
delightful, though performing quarantine has 
not been so irksome as we had anticipated, 
for our time has been so fully occupied, that 
the days have passed rapidly with us. In¬ 
deed, were it not for a desire to explore the 
new country around us, and to collect and 
examine its various natural productions, I 
could be very happy in this place for a much 
longer time than we have spent in it, especially 
if many of one family were here together. I 
often think what an acquisition the society of 
a few dear, merry-hearted children would 
have been during our imprisonment. But I 
can easily believe that to many persons the 


70 


LETTERS FROM 


confinement would be most wearisome, espe¬ 
cially to those who have but few in-door 
pursuits, and to whom the employment of 
collecting shells and insects would be an 
absolute punishment. 

This letter will be sent by the Flamer, 
which is daily expected to call here on her 
homeward-bound passage from Corfu. I will 
write again by the next packet, which will 
leave Malta in about one month from this 
date. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


71 


LETTER III. 

Valetta , Jan. Is/, 1834. 

In my last letter I informed you that we 
should be set at liberty on the Sunday fol¬ 
lowing. Nothing worth relating occurred 
during the short time we remained in the 
lazaret, except the arrival of the Flamer 
from Corfu, when we had the pleasure of 
again seeing our friends, the officers of the 
packet, but not of shaking hands with them, 
as that would have subjected us to another 
fortnight’s quarantine. On the day before 
our enlargement, we received a visit from the 
medical man appointed to ascertain the state 
of health of those whose quarantine is about 
to expire. He asked one question only, 


72 


LETTERS FROM 


“ Gentlemen, are you in good health ? ” 
which being answered in the affirmative, he 
made a low bow, and took his leave. Could 
we have had notice of his coming, we had 
intended to have been engaged in a game at 
tennis, which we thought would have been 
the best way of replying to his question. 

We have changed our abode several times 
since we left the lazaret. We first went to 
the hotel from which we had been supplied 
with provisions, and then took lodgings for a 
week, engaging our quarantine servant to 
wait on us. Finding, however, that both he 
and our landlady were dishonest, we left our 
lodgings, and are now at another hotel, 
where we are very comfortably entertained; 
but we intend to remove into the country 
shortly. 

I will now give you a short description of 
Valetta. The town, as you will perceive by 
















/ 









MALTA AND SICILY. 


73 


the map, is built on a peninsula, with 
a beautiful harbour on each side of it; 
that on the left, as we face the sea, is 
the Quarantine, and the other is generally 
called the Grand Harbour. Yaletta would 
be considered a pretty town, for though 
the streets are narrow, they are very clean, 
and from many parts we have fine views 
of the harbours and of the open sea. The 
principal thoroughfare is Strada Reale, which 
runs the whole length of the town, from 
Foil; St. Elmo to the Porta Reale, and 
is nearly three quarters of a mile long. In 
this street and in some others, there are 
many very good shops, where most articles 
of English manufacture may be bought at 
nearly as low a rate as in England, and those 
which are the produce of other countries at 
a much lower price. Many of the shop¬ 
keepers are Englishmen, and most of them 


74 


LETTERS FROM 


can speak our language. The convenience 
for foot-passengers is more attended to here 
than in many foreign towns, for almost all the 
streets have footways, which are formed into 
wide, easy steps, where there is much accli¬ 
vity. In some parts the paving is composed 
of hard black lava from the neighbourhood 
of Mount Etna, but the common soft free¬ 
stone of the island is generally used for this 
purpose. This soon wears away, and makes 
a great deal of dirt and dust. 

A stranger soon becomes acquainted with 
the geography of Valetta, as the streets 
cross each other at right-angles, and pre¬ 
serve the same name from end to end how¬ 
ever long they may be. In some parts of 
the town are pretty little fountains of clear 
water, spouting up out of a low wall enclos¬ 
ing a small reservoir, and these little jets, 
which are about the size of a large quill, are 



FORT MANU ^L IN THE QUARANTINE HARBOUR 






































MALTA AND SICILY. 


75 


very convenient for the passenger, who holds 
his mouth over them, and thus slakes his 

i 

thirst without any occasion for a drinking- 
vessel. But I believe that this apparently 
simple operation requires some practice, for 
in attempting to perform it I did not suc¬ 
ceed very well. At the comers of some 
of the streets are images of saints, with 
lighted lamps before them. The business 
of cleaning the town is performed by con¬ 
victs, some drawing a cart, and a party of 
five or six sweeping and shovelling, attended 
by two soldiers with bayonets in their hands. 
These poor convict scavengers are all in 
chains, which make a melancholy clanking 
noise, and those who are condemned for life 
have irons on both their legs. 

The houses in Valetta are built in quite a 
foreign style, having flat roofs, which answer 
the purpose of courts or gardens for drying 


LETTERS FROM 


76 

clothes, and for cultivating plants in pots and 
boxes of earth, and at our hotel part of the rool 
is shaded by a trellis-work covered by vines, 
the stems of which grow in a court below. 
In fine weather it is very delightful to walk in 
this elevated garden, which commands a beau¬ 
tiful view of the quarantine harbour and of the 
open sea; and under the cool shade of the 
vines parties sometimes dine and drink tea 
in summer. Stone floors are almost univer¬ 
sal, even in the bedrooms, though in the 
better sort of houses they are painted, and 
covered with carpet or matting. I conclude 
that the abundance of excellent and easily- 
worked stone on the island, and the absence 
of timber, is the chief reason for building in 
this substantial manner, but the intense heat 
of the summers may be another inducement, 
on which account also the rooms are very 
lofty, and have often two or three large fold- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


77 


ing-doors, and windows reaching nearly to 
the ceiling, with Venetian blinds outside. 

Women-servants are not so much em¬ 
ployed here as in England, but in my 
opinion their places are very well supplied 
by men, who perform their duties quite as 
well as women, and I would say, if I dared, 
more quietly and speedily. 

There are a great number of Catholic 
churches in Valetta, but few of them have 
any beauty in their exteriors. From these 
churches there is kept up an almost inces¬ 
sant ringing of bells, which at first was very 
annoying, but we are now become more 
accustomed to it. The bells are hung in 
open belfries, and are rung by a man or boy, 
standing under them, with a rope fastened 
to the clapper, which he swings backward 
and forward, the bell remaining stationary; 
but we never hear a musical peal as in 


78 


LETTERS FROM 


England. In some of the churches there 
are confessionals, which are wooden stalls 
like watch-boxes, divided into two parts, in 
one of which the priest sits, and the person 
confessing kneels in the other, whispering 
through a hole in the partition. These con¬ 
fessionals being open in front, both parties 
are exposed to public view. On one of the 
churches is this inscription, “ Indulgentia 
plenaria, quotidiana, perpetua, pro vivis et 
mortuis,” which being interpreted signifies, 
“ Full, daily, and perpetual indulgence (or 
absolution, I suppose they mean,) for the 
living and the dead.” 

The cathedral church of St John, though 
very plain outside, is exceedingly beautiful 
within, but the gilding, with which the walls 
are nearly covered, has become sadly tar¬ 
nished, and the pavement and other parts are 
in very bad repair. There are many paintings 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


79 


in this church, some of which are much ad¬ 
mired, but, in my opinion, by far the most 
beautiful part is the pavement, which consists 
of large stones, each formed of an infinite 
number of pieces of marble of different 
colours, white, red, and black predominat¬ 
ing. Here are are some fine monuments of 
the grand masters, knights of Malta, and in 
a vault underneath, lie the remains of La 
Valette, who founded the city of Yaletta, 
and of La Cassiera, who built the church in 
which he is buried. 

Jn our walks through the streets we meet a 
great many Catholic priests; they wear 
cocked hats, but in other respects their ordi¬ 
nary costume has nothing remarkable in it. 
On the day we left the lazaret, we encoun¬ 
tered a very long procession of monks and 
others, in commemoration of the cessation 
of the plague, which many years ago de- 


80 


LETTERS FROM 


stroyed great numbers in this island. Some 
of the company carried banners and censers 
with incense, and two were playing on fid¬ 
dles, while the rest chanted in a very me¬ 
lancholy tone. The monks wear a thick 
knotted rope round the waist, ostensibly for 
the purpose of self-flagellation, though per¬ 
haps it is not often made use of. I have 
remarked that some of these monks show 
a little dandyism in the proper adjust¬ 
ment of this article, and endeavour to make 
it as ornamental as possible, by selecting a 
piece of very nice white rope, neatly knotted 
at equal distances. 

There is an English Protestant chapel in 
the palace, where service is performed twice 
on Sundays. As there is no organ, its place 
is supplied by the band of one of the regi¬ 
ments. 

Most of the Maltese in Valetta and the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


81 


neighbourhood can speak Italian, and many 
of them a little English ; but a great part of 
the peasantry, especially those who live at a 
distance from the town, understand nothing 
but their own language, which is a cor¬ 
rupt Arabic. We have not seen much of 
the country-people, but we are informed that 
there is a great deal of distress among them 
from the want of employment. The lower 
orders in Yaletta appear to be very well dis¬ 
posed, and they are certainly remarkable for 
sobriety, for though wine and spirits are very 
cheap, I have not seen a single instance of 
intoxication in a native. Though very fre¬ 
quently without shoes or stockings, they are 
generally clean and decent in their dress, 
and even the beggars have none of the 
squalid appearance of that class in other 
countries. The men wear large shawls round 
their waists, and straw hats or cloth caps, 


G 


82 


LETTERS FROM 


with a long bag hanging down behind; in 
other respects their dress has nothing singular 
in it, and the women differ very little in theirs 
from English women of the same class, ex¬ 
cept that out of doors they wear a black silk 
cloak, called a “ faldetto,” over their heads, 
without any other head-dress. The faldetto 
is also often worn by the more respectable 
class of Maltese women, though many of 
these are now beginning to conform to the 
English custom of wearing bonnets. 

The beggars in Valetta are certainly a very 
great annoyance, and are most importunate 
in their petitions, in which the words “ Ca- 
rita, miserable,” and “ nix mangi,” are fre¬ 
quently repeated. We might be charitable 
here at a very small cost, for a single gran a , 
a little copper coin, of which twelve are 
equal in value to a penny, is all the poor 
unfortunates ask for; but our friends have 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


83 


cautioned us never, upon any account, to 
bestow even that miserable pittance, as in 
that case there would be no end to our per¬ 
secutions. “ Nix mangi,” means “ nothing 
to eat,” the last word being an abbrevia¬ 
tion of the Italian, “ mangiare” but where 
the “ nix” comes from I cannot tell you. 
One day a little chubby-faced boy ran after 
me crying, “ Nix mangi, nix mangi!” though 
at the same time he had crammed his mouth 
so full of raw turnip, that he could hardly 
give utterance to the falsehood. From the 
constant repetition of the word “ nix mangi” 
or “ mangiare,” one of the steep streets 
leading down to the grand harbour, is com¬ 
monly called “ Nix Mangiare Stairs,” though 
I am not aware that the beggars are more 
numerous there than in some other parts of 
the town. 

On approaching some of the streets lead- 


84 


LETTERS FROM 


ing to the water-side, we are assailed by 
multitudes of boatmen offering their ser¬ 
vices with an earnestness and pertinacity 
only to be equalled by the drivers of cars in 
some of the English sea-ports. These boat¬ 
men are very civil and attentive to their 
passengers, and are quite contented with a 
small remuneration, though they have no 
objection to overcharge strangers a little; 
but, perhaps, in this imamiable propensity 
they do not exceed them brethren of the 

oar in other countries. As Valetta is situated 

* 

at the end of a peninsula, a great number of 
boats are constantly employed in conveying 
passengers across the harbours to the towns 
and villages on the other side. These boats 
are heavily built, but they are very safe and 
commodious. They may be about eighteen 
feet in length and six in width, and are 
nearly the same shape at both ends, with the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


85 


stems and stern-posts standing up about a 
loot and a half above the gunwale. These 
are a great assistance in getting in or out, 
especially in rough weather. The boats are 
kept very clean and neat. They are gene¬ 
rally rowed by two men, one standing with 
his face towards the head, the other sitting 
in the bow, and rising from his seat at every 
stroke; sometimes, however, they both stand. 
A rudder is seldom used except when carry¬ 
ing sail, but in the harbours they generally 
depend on their oars. These are very heavy 
and clumsy, and are attached to the gun¬ 
wale by means of a single wooden pin and a 
loop of rope, so that they may be left in 
their places without any danger of their 
slipping overboard. Besides these boats 
there are some much larger, partly decked, 
which ply between Malta, the neighbouring 
island of Goza, and Sicily. 


86 


LETTERS FROM 


The Maltese are great anglers, and on 
Sundays and holydays we see numbers of 
men and boys, and sometimes women, on 
the rocks with their immensely long cane- 
rods, but I have not yet had the pleasure of 
seeing a fish caught by any of them. They 
make excellent horse-hair lines, and I have 
bought one thirty or forty yards in length for 
sixpence. When we were outside of the 
harbour in the packet, we heard a noise on 
the water like the ringing of a small bell, 
and on examination we found it proceed 
from a cork buoy placed there to mark the 
situation of some lines. On this buoy two 
little pieces of metal were suspended from a 
short upright stick, and as the motion of the 
waves kept them continually striking against 
each other, when the owner of the lines had 
occasion to examine them in the night, he 
was directed to the spot by the sound. Per- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


87 


haps this ingenious contrivance might be 
useful to the fishermen on our own coasts. 

The market in Valetta is well supplied 
with all kinds of eatables, especially with 
fruit: oranges, lemons, pumpkins, (two feet 
or more in diameter,) water-melons, apples, 
pears, pomegranates, dried figs, nuts, wal¬ 
nuts, chesnuts, prickly-pears, &c. are in 
great abundance and very cheap ; many of 
these fruits are brought from Sicily. Potatoes 
are not very good, though I have eaten worse 
in England, but the cauliflowers are of a 
prodigious size, and very cheap. They have 
here a curious sort of a turnip, which grows 
on a stem, four or five inches from the 
ground, the leaves sprouting out from the 
sides of the bulb; this, when boiled, is su- 

• 

perior to the common turnip. Meat is cheap 
and tolerably good ; fresh butter and cow’s 
milk are very dear, but good salt butter may 


88 


LETTERS FROM 


be bought at nearly as low a price as in 
England. We are always supplied with 
goat’s milk, which is so much like cow’s 
milk in taste, that in tea or coffee the dif¬ 
ference is not perceptible. Little flocks of 
quiet, meek-eyed goats, with immensely dis¬ 
tended udders, are driven through the streets 
eveiy morning to supply the inhabitants 
with milk, fresh and genuine. The drivers 
of these animated milk-pails utter the most 
doleful cries, which at so early an hour are 
rather disturbing. 

Is it not delightful to dwell in a land 
where the finest oranges in the world may 
be bought for threepence a dozen ? I 
believe they may be obtained at a much 
lower rate, for the Maltese tradesmen, like 
those of other countries, frequently ask for 
their commodities double the price they may 
be persuaded to take. The oranges here are 




MALTA AND SICILY. 


89 


certainly very delicious, but, I think, not 
superior to the very best of those which are 
brought to England. Yet I have heard it 
said, that those only who have eaten the 
orange in the land of its growth have tasted 
it in full perfection. I am rather disappoint¬ 
ed in the appearance of the orange-planta¬ 
tions. All those we have seen are surrounded 
by high walls, which in this island are said to 
be quite necessary, in order, I believe, to 
protect the blossom from the wind. Still an 
orange-tree, in any situation, is a beautiful 
object when loaded with ripe fruit, the bright 
colour of which forms such a fine contrast 
with the dark green of the leaves. 

We have not added much to our collec¬ 
tions lately, but we hope to be more success¬ 
ful when we remove into the country, and as 
the weather becomes warmer. One morning 
as we were exploring the neighbourhood of 


90 


LETTERS FROM 


Burmulo, on the other side of the grand 
harbour, we saw some most beautiful lizards 
of a brilliant green colour. These little ani¬ 
mals were basking in the sun on the old walls 
of the fortifications, but upon the least alarm, 
sometimes even upon a shadow passing over 
them, they darted into the crevices between 
the stones with such wonderful agility, that 
we found it impossible to capture a single 
individual. So we were obliged to content 
ourselves with admiring their brilliant colours 
and graceful movements. But I was deter, 
mined to procure some specimens; and it 
soon occurred to me, that if I could knock 
down birds in England with a pellet of clay 
from a blow-pipe, the lizards in Malta might 
be lulled in the same way. Accordingly, 
the next morning I went in search of a 
tinman, and having fortunately found an 
artist who could speak a little English, after 



OJRTRE'N' I, IZ ARB 



































MALTA AND SICILY. 


91 


a good deal of explanation, both by words 
and signs, and by now and then making use 
of his tools myself, I was at length in pos¬ 
session of an instrument which has proved 
to be quite powerful enough for the purpose. 
It is about a yard in length, and can be taken 
apart in three pieces for the convenience of 
carriage. 

The first warm, sunshiny day we crossed 
the water again to make trial of the blowpipe, 
which answered admirably. With a pellet 
of soft pipe-clay, I found no difficulty in 
killing or stunning these nimble-footed 
lizards, so that they could not escape, and 
we brought them home very conveniently in 
a large wide-mouthed bottle of spirits of 
wine. These beautiful animals vary so much 
in their colours, that we at first supposed 
they were of different species. Some are a 
brilliant green, spotted with black; others 


92 


LETTERS FROM 


almost entirely green, or with longitudinal 
bands of green and yellow, and the young 
lizards are of a uniform dark brown colour. 
I have no means of ascertaining the scientific 
name of this species, but in size and form 
they very much resemble the common 
Lacerta agilis of our own country. 

As we were walking slowly along in search 
of our game, I perceived upon the wall a 
very ugly animal, evidently of the lizard 
genus, but much larger than any we had 
before seen, and of a grey colour, so like the 
stone, that at a short distance it was difficult 
to distinguish it from it. Of course I lost 
no time in preparing to give him a shot, and 
had drawn in a good supply of breath for 
the purpose, when he took offence at the 
motion of raising the blow-pipe to my mouth, 
and whisked sideways into his hole with the 
speed of lightning. But we waited patiently 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


93 


near the spot, and by approaching very 
cautiously with the blow-pipe pointed towards 
him, after several unsuccessful attempts, we 
at length had the pleasure of seeing him in 
our bottle. He proves to be one of those 
lizards which are called “ wood-slaves ,” 
(Gecko -) and an extremely ugly crea¬ 

ture he is. He has a very large mouth, and 
the head and body are wide and flat, with 
the legs projecting sideways, so that he runs 
with the belly touching the ground, and he 
appears to move with equal facility and 
rapidity in all directions, backwards, for¬ 
wards, or sideways. The colour is a brown¬ 
ish grey, rather lighter on the under-parts, 
and the back and tail are beset with pro¬ 
tuberances, or warts. His eyes have a very 
unpleasant, and almost a wicked expression. 
They are nearly the same colour as the body, 
and have long narrow pupils like those of a cat 



94 


LETTERS FROM 


when exposed to a strong light. But though 
this animal appears to our eyes ugly and 
almost deformed from the flatness of his 
body and the position of his legs, yet these 
very peculiarities of form are most admirably 
adapted to his mode of life, his usual retreat 
being a narrow crevice in a wall or rock. He 
is a powerful and fierce-looking animal, and 
I have no doubt that he preys upon the 
smaller lizards, which he may very easily do, 
for though no longer, he is very much stouter 
and stronger than they are, and his mouth 
is so large, that he might swallow them whole. 
I have been informed, upon good authority, 
that a gentleman in this island had a canary- 
bird killed by an unusually large wood-slave, 
which climbed up the wall to an open win¬ 
dow, and squeezed his flat body between the 
wires of the cage. 

I 

We have found several specimens of ano- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


95 


ther kind of lizard, (Scincus - ) nearly 

torpid, under large stones. They are very 
smooth and shining, like a blindworm, and 
the colour is light brown, with darker spots. 
We have captured only one snake, which is 
very like our own species, but he wants the 
beautiful yellow collar round the neck, 
which is so great an ornament to our English 
snake. 

Lizard shooting is really an amusing sport, 
and without the assistance of the blow-pipe 
we should have found great difficulty in 
procuring specimens of these beautiful little 
animals. And though the game is small , the 
instrument and the ammunition used in this 
novel sport are very simple and inexpensive, 
so that the means are not disproportioned to 
the end obtained. In this respect the amuse¬ 
ment I have described is more rational than 
our favourite sport of snipe shooting. For 




96 


LETTERS FROM 


in the latter pursuit the sportsman, carrying 
with him an apparatus which has, perhaps, 
cost him fifty or sixty pounds, and accom¬ 
panied by his dogs and gamekeeper, after a 
whole day spent in wandering over moors 
and swamps, till, as the ancient angling book 
says, “lie is weete sliode unto his t ay lie” 
will frequently return in the evening, having 
accomplished nothing but the destruction of 
two or three little fluttering jack-snipes, half- 
a dozen of which would barely suffice for his 
supper. 

A few days ago we visited several of the 
public institutions in Valetta. We were ac¬ 
companied by our Maltese friend, Mr. N-, 

a gentleman from whom we have received 
great kindness and attention. We first 
visited the House of Industry at Floriana, 
which institution was founded about one 
hundred years ago by the grand master, 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


97 


Antonio Manuel; but at that time the in¬ 
mates were not provided with any employ¬ 
ment. In 1825 the building was much en¬ 
larged, and the institution entirely remodeled. 
It contains at present about two hundred 
and fifty young women and girls, who are 
employed in spinning, weaving, embroidery, 
lady’s shoe-making, lace-making, &c. About 
three years ago a school was added, which 
is open for one hour only in each day for 
instruction in reading, writing, and arith¬ 
metic ; and although only two hours in the 
week are devoted to writing, the progress 
some of the girls have made is really aston¬ 
ishing. The establishment is supported 
partly by the sale of the articles made by 
the inmates, and partly by government. 
Every part of these extensive premises is 
kept in a state of the most perfect order and 
cleanliness. 


H 


98 


LETTERS FROM 


Near the House of Industry is another 
charitable institution for the reception of 
poor men and women, who are too old or 
infirm for hard labour. A few of them em¬ 
ploy a part of their time in making brooms. 
Among the inmates of this asylum we found 
one of our own country-women, who, I 
believe, came out to Malta as a servant in 
an English family. She told us that she 
was very comfortably provided for, but that 
she much felt the want of a cup of tea now 
and then, as this article was not supplied by 
the institution. We gave the poor old wo¬ 
man some money to procure a little of this 
luxury, so essential to the comfort of almost 
all English women. 

We next went to a convent of Capuchin 
monks at Floriana. These poor men have 
no property but their house, and some small 
gardens and orangeries; they are supported 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


99 


chiefly by charity, and spend most of their 
time in going about the country preaching 
and visiting the sick. They are only forty 
in number at present, but the house is large 
enough to accommodate seventy or eighty. 
Their cells appeared clean and decently 
furnished, and over each door was a text of 
Scripture in Latin. In the church of this 
convent was a full-sized figure, I believe, in 
wax, of Christ after his crucifixion; one of 
those singular, and to me painfully correct 
representations, which the Catholics in this 
country exhibit, with a view to excite the 
devotional feelings of the beholders. Though 
offensive to Protestants, if others derive bene¬ 
fit from the contemplation of such figures, 
we have no right to ridicule them. 

We also visited the gaol, where we were 
most politely received by the governor. It 
is an exceedingly well-conducted establish- 


100 


LETTERS FROM 


ment, and almost all the prisoners are em¬ 
ployed, principally in making mats and 
straw-hats, in sweeping the streets, and in 
other public work. Their present number is 
between two and three hundred, forty-eight 
of whom are condemned for life. Refractory 
prisoners are confined in “ a black hole,” on 
an allowance of bread and water, and the 
industrious are rewarded by small weekly 
wages, a certain part of which they are 
allowed to spend in wine and other articles, 
and the remainder is laid by for them until 
their liberation. The daily allowance of 
food for each man is twenty-six ounces of 
good bread, thirty ounces of soup, made 
thick with macaroni, and two ounces and a 
half of cheese. Their drink is water. Fe¬ 
male prisoners are confined in another part 
of the town. We bought some very good 
strong straw-hats at the gaol for two shillings 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


101 


a piece: they are adorned by a wide black 
ribbon, which appears to be the fashion 
in this island. 

On Christmas-day I witnessed a great 
many ceremonies at St. John’s church, 
where some of the opera performers were 
engaged for the occasion. The music was 
very beautiful, though a great part of it 
was of such a quick lively character, that it 
appeared quite unsuited for devotional pur¬ 
poses. The leader of the band had no in¬ 
strument, but in place of it a roll of paper, 
with which he beat time with so much energy, 
that the noise was very disagreeable. The next 
morning I heard some tolerably good music 
at the Carmelite church in Strada Teatro. 
At the door was stationed an old man, having 
before him a table covered with amulets, or 
charms, which consisted of pieces of linen 
about two inches square, bound with pink 


102 


LETTERS FROM 


ribbon, and having a rude representation of 
the Virgin and Child printed on them, with 
a blue riband to hang them round the neck„ 
These amulets were offered for sale. In 
glass cases, hung against the walls of the 
church, were fragments of bones, said to 
be the relics of some holy saint; and in a 
larger case was a waxen bust of Christ, 
crowned with thorns. There was also a figure 
of the Virgin Mary, dressed rather too much 
in the modern style; and a large dagger 
stuck in her breast was intended, I suppose, 
to represent a literal fulfilment of the pro¬ 
phecy of good old Simeon, “ A sword shall 
pierce through thy own soul also.” In this 
church I observed some very picturesque, and 
really beautiful groupes of women and little 

children on their knees, repeating their prayers 
with an appearance of the deepest devotion 
and sincerity. On entering the church they all 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


103 


dipped their fingers in a vessel of holy water 
near the door, and made the sign of the cross 
on their foreheads. But very few men were 
present. In a small glazed frame was a 
curious Latin hymn, of which I send you a 
copy, with a translation by a lady. It ap¬ 
pears to be in praise of St. Antonio of 
Padua. 

Si quaeris Miracula, 

Mors, Error, Calamitas, 

Daemon, Lepra fugiunt; 

JEgri surgunt sani. 

Cedunt mare, Yineula; 

Membra, resque perditas 
Petunt, et accipiunt 
Juvenes, et Cani. 

Pereunt Pericula; 

Cessat et necessitas; 

Narrent hi qui sentiunt, 

Dicant Padnani. 

TRANSLATION. 

If for miracles you seek, 

Let the dead arise and speak; 


104 


LETTERS FROM 


Demons fierce the power obey. 

Death and sorrow haste away. 

Ocean does its bounds forsake, 

Cleansed are lepers, fetters break; 

Palsied limbs have strength again, 

Age and youth lost power regain. 

Dangers vanish, want departs, 

Who such holy aid imparts; 

Where these wondrous things befel, 

Let the men of Padua tell. 

I am surprised to find that Mount Etna, 
though at the distance of about one hundred 
and twenty miles, is distinctly visible from 
this island in clear weather. I have seen it 
twice from the roof of our hotel. It appeared 
like a white cloud on the horizon, but with 
a perfectly clear and distinct outline; and 
with a telescope I could distinguish the 
black crater, and the dark shadows on the 
sides of the mountain. 

In a few days we hope to be comfortably 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


105 


established in a small country-house, the 
property of a merchant in Valetta, to whom our 
letters of credit were addressed. This change 
will be very pleasant to us, for we are heartily 
weary of a town life. And in Valetta we 
are in a very confined, and nearly insulated 
situation, surrounded on three sides by water, 
and on the fourth hemmed in by prodigiously 
strong fortifications, which appear to a stran¬ 
ger an interminable labyrinth of ditches and 
embankments, flights of steps, and zigzag 
paths. When I pass through these wonder¬ 
ful defensive works, I regret my almost total 
ignorance of the noble art of fortification, a 
knowledge of which would prove that what 
now appears a mass of confusion and irre¬ 
gularity, is really a beautiful work of order 
and design, the result of fixed scientific prin¬ 
ciples. 


106 


LETTERS FROM 


LETTER IV. 


Sliema, Feb. 6th, 1834. 

We have now been living very happily in 
our country-house for some weeks, during 
which time we have been actively engaged 
in exploring and collecting both on the land 
and water. But I must first give you a 
short description of our country establish¬ 
ment and the neighbourhood. 

The little village of Sliema (which word, 
being interpreted, signifies “peace”) consists 
principally of summer residences of the in¬ 
habitants of Valetta, and is situated, as you 
will see by the map, close to the sea, on the 
north-western side of the quarantine harbour. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


107 


Most of the houses in the village are built 
on the top of the hill facing the sea, for the 
benefit of the refreshing breeze, for the 
summers are generally intolerably hot and 
oppressive, and the heat is increased by the 
reflection of the sun from the light-coloured 
walls and roads. Our house is pleasantly 
situated close to the harbour, and is sheltered 
from the cold northerly winds by a rising 
ground at the back, on which account it 
appears more suited for a winter than for 
a summer residence. I have marked its 
position on the map by a small cross. 
It consists of five or six rooms, finished 
and furnished in a very plain manner, 
with whitewashed walls and stone floors, 
even in the bedrooms; but these homely 
accommodations do not diminish our com¬ 
fort in the least degree, for the house and 
everything in it is exceedingly neat and 


108 


LETTERS FROM 


clean, and after our many changes we are 
glad to have an abode we can call our 
own. 

Our friend, Mr. R-, the owner of the 

house, has also spared us one of his own 
servants, and a more respectable, honest, 
and obliging fellow than Michele, I believe 
does not exist. To persons so little accus¬ 
tomed to housekeeping as ourselves, he is 
quite invaluable, as he purchases all our 
provisions, and, of course, has it in his 
power to impose on us to a great extent; but 
we have had several proofs of his integrity. 
His knowledge of our language is not so 
perfect as we could wish, and sometimes 
considerable difficulty occurs in making him 
understand our meaning. One day, after in 
vain endeavouring to explain to him the 
nature of an article I wished him to pur¬ 
chase, it was pipe-clay for lizard-shooting, I 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


109 


rose up rather suddenly to look for the 
Italian word for it in the dictionary, when 
poor Michele retreated to the door in a great 
fright, thinking, no doubt, that I was literally 
going to beat my meaning into his head. 
We have also a very amusing old woman 
living in the house, a native of the island of 
Minorca. Madalena’s language is a strange 
compound of Italian, Maltese, and English, 
and, I believe, with an occasional mixture of 
her native tongue. In short, she is in the 
awkward situation of one who has nearly 
forgotten her own language, and has not half 
learned any other. She is a very merry, 
kind-hearted old woman, always laughing and 
chatting to us, and she pretends to admire 
everything we bring home. 

We have a large garden around the house, 
but it is not laid out with much taste. Its 
greatest ornament is the common scarlet 


110 


LETTERS FROM 


geranium, which grows most luxuriantly in 
this climate, and is now in full blossom. I have 
seen some plants seven feet in height. In a 
yard adjoining the garden, is an amusing- 
company of turkeys, ducks, bantams, pigeons, 
rabbits, and guinea-pigs. Here also is a ga¬ 
zelle, lately brought over horn the coast of 
Barbary; she is a beautiful little animal, 
though her legs are quite disproportionately 
small for the size of her body, and there 
really seems some danger of their being 
broken by her extraordinary leaps and gam¬ 
bols. On this account, as the ground in the 
yard is rugged and uneven, I am almost 
afraid to play with her, though she some¬ 
times invites me to a game of romps by but¬ 
ting at me with her head. To teach her 
better manners I catch her by the horns and 
gently punch her soft nose. Her eyes are 
large and dark, but she can throw a very 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


Ill 


roguish expression into them when she 
pleases. As a parlour-companion, we have 
a small and very beautiful Blenheim spaniel, 

the property of Mr. R-, who has two 

others of the same breed. These dogs used 
to spend a short time in the country alter¬ 
nately, but little Minna’s beauty and en¬ 
gaging manners have so endeared her 
to me, that her master now allows her 
to be our constant guest. We are fast 
friends, and she generally expects some 
milk from my saucer at breakfast and tea- 
time. 

Boats are continually crossing from oin¬ 
side of the water to the town, but the qua¬ 
rantine regulations do not allow them to ply 
after sunset. The distance from our house 
is about half a mile, but the fare is very low, 
only one halfpenny for each passenger when 
there are as many as four, and if fewer than 



112 


LETTERS FROM 


four are in the boat, they must pay two¬ 
pence between them. When the water is 
smooth enough to allow of a landing, we may 
cross over for half the above sum by walking 
to the point at Fort Tigne. But though 
these are the established fares, the boatmen 
are frequently in the habit of demanding a 
great deal more when they think their pas¬ 
sengers are strangers. We thought our¬ 
selves rather clever in engaging a boat for a 
shilling, the first time we crossed over to 
Sliema. 

Though this neighbourhood is rather more 
pleasant than any part of Malta we have 
hitherto visited, the land-views present a 
most desolate appearance to the eyes of 
those who have been accustomed to the re¬ 
freshing verdure of our own island. The 
country is everywhere divided by rough, 
disfiguring, mortarless stone-walls, into small 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


113 


irregularly-shaped inclosures, containing 
from one or two acres to half an acre, and 
frequently having no gate or doorway, so 
that the only means of entrance is by climb¬ 
ing over the low wall. In many of these 
fields there are large patches of bare rock, 
indeed, there appears to be but a very thin 
covering of soil in any part, and it is said, 
that a great deal of this has been brought 
over from Sicily and from the coast of Africa. 
But the inhabitants of this little freestone 
rock are most industrious cultivators of the 
soil, and raise crops of com and vegetables, 
which appear very green and flourishing, 
notwithstanding the small depth of earth in 
which they grow. In order to prevent this 
most precious soil from being washed away by 
the rain, on the sides of the hills the walls are 
placed so close together that the ground 
between them is entirely concealed from an 


i 


114 


LETTERS FROM 


observer on the plain, and at a little distance 
he might Suppose that he had a barren rock 
before him. From an eminence, however, the 
prospect is more verdant and agreeable. 

We often take long rambles along the 
coast and into the interior, and in these ex¬ 
cursions we never confine ourselves to roads 
or footways, but climb over walls, and pass 
through fields and gardens without rebuke or 
molestation from any person, as though the 
island were our own private estate. The 
Maltese are certainly very goodnatured to 
trespassers, for though in these cross-country 
rambles we are continually falling in with men 
at their work, no notice is ever taken of us. 
In one of our first excursions in this neigh¬ 
bourhood, we were delighted by finding 
some beautiful large blue anemones, the 
same species as those we cultivate with so 
much care in our English gardens. We 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


115 


have since found them in great abundance in 
other places, and have preserved many speci¬ 
mens. Those which are not fully expanded 
preserve their colours better than most 
flowers, but the full-blown blossoms inva¬ 
riably become brown when dry. A very 
curious plant which also grows wild here, is 
the momordicci elaterium , or squirting cucum¬ 
ber, from which the drug elaterium is ob¬ 
tained. The leaves and flowers are not 
unlike those of a common gourd, but the 
fruit, which grows on an upright stalk, and 
is about the size of a small walnut, has a 
very singular property, which to a stranger is 
rather startling. When these little gourds 
are nearly ripe, the slightest touch causes 
them to fly with violence from their stems, and 
at the same time they squirt out their seeds 
and a quantity of juice to the distance of 
several yards. The unripe gourds will bear 

i 2 


116 


LETTERS FROM 


to be roughly handled without performing 
this extraordinary feat; but even these will 
generally squirt out their juice upon being 
punctured with a knife. Some of these little 
gourds, which were laid on our table, startled 
us several days afterwards, by shooting their 
seeds and juice across the room against the 
window. 

The greatest ornament of the uncul¬ 
tivated parts on the coast is the asphode- 
lus ramosus , an English garden plant, 
which grows luxuriantly among the rocks 
wherever it can find nourishment for its 
roots. Some of these plants are three or 
four feet high, and have several hundred 
light-pink blossoms; on these we find two 
or three species of beetles of the genus 
scarab(eus,* and a pretty little cerambyx ,* 
the larva of which inhabits the stem of the 


* Liuuean genera. 



































MALTA AND SICILY. 


117 


plant. In the same rocky situations the 
medicinal squill, scilla maritima , grows in 
great abundance, but it is not now in flower, 
and, I believe, will not blossom till the 
autumn. The root, which is generally partly 
above the ground, is four or five inches in 
diameter, and has somewhat the appearance 
of an onion. 

Our most productive collecting-ground is 
a place called Coradino, a rough unculti¬ 
vated spot, at the upper end of the Grand 
Harbour, and here we find a beautiful many- 
flowered narcissus, with a powerful and most 
delicious scent; an orchis, like the bee- 
orchis, and a very small arum of which I 
send you a drawing; we have since found 
this pretty little flower in many other situ¬ 
ations. I have also endeavoured to make a 
drawing of the true maidenhair, which grows 
here abundantly on damp rocks and walls, 


118 


LETTERS FROM 


but it is so difficult to do justice to this 
beautiful fem by representing a single branch, 
however correctly it may be sketched and 
coloured, that I have thrown aside my draw¬ 
ing in disgust. To have an idea of its 
elegant growth it must be seen on its native 
rocks. At the point at Fort Tigne there 
grows a henbane, which differs from the 
English species in not having the beautiful 
pencilling on the flowers; the scent also is 
not quite so offensive. On the asphodelus 
and on the squill we sometimes find a 

species of dodder, (cuscuta -) a 

parasitical plant, which appears like an as¬ 
semblage of red tendrils sticking fast to the 
leaves, and deriving its nourishment from 
them. A small species of valerian, the blue 
pimpernel, (anagallis cerulea ,) the clypeola 
maritima , the siletie gallica , and a marigold 
no larger than a daisy, are common in every 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


119 


field and by every roadside. There are 
also three or four pretty species of antirr¬ 
hinum and of orchis. We are very desirous 
of seeing the flowers of some plants which 
are not yet in blossom; among these are 
several thistles, marbled with white, and one 
with the leaves finely divided, like those of 
a fern; one or two sorts of iris ; an arum, 
with very large singularly-formed leaves, and 
the caper-plant. This last is common on 
the walls of the fortifications, and is not un¬ 
like the periwinkle in growth. 

Let me mention three more plants, and 
we will leave this subject for the present. 
The first is a very beautiful large yellow 
oxalis, which is sometimes cultivated in pots 
in England; the second, a fine deep crim¬ 
son vetch; and the third, a rough-leaved 
plant, with the flowers purple and yellow. 
At first I thought this was a species of com- 


120 


LETTERS FROM 


frey, to which it is certainly very nearly 
allied, but I have since been informed that it 
is the cerintlie aspera. It is an exceedingly 
beautiful plant, and preserves its colour and 
character very well when dry. 

I believe you did not see the net which I 
brought out for the purpose of collecting 
shells. It is on the same principle as an 
oyster dredge, but it is smaller, and con¬ 
sists of a sharp iron scraper, to which is 
attached a bag made of strong net-work. It 
is let down to the bottom from a boat, and 
as it is dragged slowly along, the shells or 
other small things lying in its way are 
scraped up and transferred to the net, where 
they remain till the apparatus is hauled up 
into the boat again. I had hoped to have 
procured a great many shells in this man¬ 
ner, but I am sorry to say that we have met 
with very little success, though we have 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


121 


made many trials in some bays on the coast, 
which are well suited for dredging, having a 
fine sandy bottom, quite free from rocks or 
other obstructions. 

But though we have hitherto met with 
but little success in dredging, the hopes of 
obtaining some shells by this means has 
induced us to visit several parts of the 
coast, which we should not otherwise have 
seen. We had one very pleasant water ex¬ 
cursion to St. Paul’s Bay, which is generally 
supposed to be the spot where St. Paul was 
shipwrecked. 

I believe that few persons now entertain 
any doubt that Malta is the ancient Melita 
mentioned in the Acts; one or two writers 
on this subject have, however, contended 
that St. Paul was shipwrecked on an island 
now called Meleda , which is situated in the 
Gulf of Venice, on the coast of Dalmatia. 


122 


LETTERS FROM 


Therefore, before I give you an account of 
our excursion to St. Paul’s Bay, I will insert 
a few arguments, which I have collected 
from various sources, in opposition to this 
opinion. The principal advocate in favour 
of Meleda, is that learned and indefatigable 
* inquirer, Jacob Bryant. He has been fol¬ 
lowed by Dr. Falconer, but I have never 
seen the observations of the latter writer, 
and I believe they are little more than 
a repetition of the arguments of Bry¬ 
ant. 

I have read these with the greatest atten¬ 
tion. The principal and most plausible 
argument is founded on this passage in the 
Acts, “ We were driven up and down in 
Adria ,” and Bryant contends that by this 
term* we must understand that portion of the 
Mediterranean only which is now called the 
Gulf of Venice, and which does not extend 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


123 


so far to the south as Malta by two or three 
hundred miles. 

Such, no doubt, were the confined limits 
assigned to the Adriatic by many ancient 
geographers; but even those authorities 
quoted by Bryant differ from each other 
considerably in the exact boundary they 
have fixed for this sea. By some it was 
considered to comprehend the greater por¬ 
tion of the Ionian Gulf, and one authority 
states, that it was included between Italy 
and the opposite coast of Greece. Bryant 
allows that the limits assigned to the Adriatic 
have varied at different periods. And as a 
complete refutation of this learned man’s 
grand argument, it has been proved from 
Ptolemy, Strabo, and others, that the Adriatic 
Sea was sometimes allowed to include the 
whole of the space between Italy, Greece, 
and Africa. 


124 


LETTERS FROM 


Bryant’s second argument also rests upon 
a single word in the account of the ship¬ 
wreck. It is said, “ the barbarous people 
showed us no little kindness.” Jacob very 
clearly proves from Cicero and from Dio¬ 
dorus Siculus, that at the time in question 
the inhabitants of Malta were by no means 
a “ barbarous people.” 

St. Paul himself has furnished us with an 
answer to this argument in his first epistle to 
the Corinthians, chap. xiv. ver. 11: “ If I 
know not the meaning of the voice, I shall 
be unto him that speaketh a barbarian, and 
he that speaketh shall be a barbarian imto 
me.” Now there is no doubt that at the 
time of the shipwreck the inhabitants of 
Melita, who were of Phoenician and Cartha¬ 
ginian origin, still retained wholly, or in 
part, their ancient language, which would be 
unintelligible to Greeks and Romans. The 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


125 


shipwrecked company would “ know not the 
meaning of the voice; ” and, consequently, 
those who made use of it would be called by 
them a “ barbarous people.” 

I am almost afraid to venture upon Bryant’s 
next argument, not that there is any diffi¬ 
culty in refuting it, but because the reply 
to it may, perhaps, give offence to some per¬ 
sons. It is confidently asserted, and I be¬ 
lieve the statement is quite correct, that no 
viper, or other poisonous snake is to be 
found in Malta; therefore Bryant says, a As 
there are no serpents now, my conclusion is, 
that there never were any; consequently 
this could not be the place where St. Paul 
exhibited the miracle.” 

The present inhabitants of Malta have a 
very ready answer to this. They assert, that 
when St. Paul “ shook off the beast into the 
fire, and felt no harm,” he at the same instant 


m 


LETTERS FROM 


destroyed all the 1 venomous snakes in the 
island. But instead of believing that Malta 
was freed from poisonous reptiles in this 
manner, is it not more rational to conclude 
that St. Paul wrought no miracle whatever 
upon the occasion, and that the animal which 
fastened upon his hand was not a “ venomous 
beast,” but a harmless snake ? The English 
snake is still believed to be venomous by 
many of our own countrymen, especially by 
the ignorant and superstitious Welchmen, 
some of whom 1 have found it quite impos¬ 
sible to convince, when I have taken the 
animal into my hands, that I did not possess 
some supernatural power or charm , which 
prevented it from injuring me. “Ah, he 
knows you ,” they have said ; “ but I would 
not touch him for the world !” We may 
safely conclude that the company assembled 
round the fire after the shipwreck were 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


127 


equally deficient in a knowledge of natural 
history. St. Paul himself was no doubt mis¬ 
taken in the nature of the animal which had 
attacked him. We know that many won¬ 
derful miracles were wrought by him, but he 
was not omniscient. Though a messenger 
from heaven had been sent to assure him 
that the lives of himself and his shipmates 
would be saved, St. Paul knew not the land 
on which they should be wrecked. “ How- 
beit, we must be cast on a certain island.” 

Jacob Bryant makes some further obser¬ 
vations on this subject, which are rather 
amusing. He says, that if we allow Meleda, 
the island in the Gulf of Venice, to be the 
scene of the shipwreck, the course taken by 
St. Paul and his companions on their way to 
Pome, after they had wintered in the island, 
is easily to be accounted for. From what 
follows, we might suppose that Bryant had 


128 


LETTERS FROM 


had an opportunity of consulting the log¬ 
book of the good ship the Castor and Pollux. 
He asks what wind a vessel would require in 
going from Meleda towards Rome, and re¬ 
plies, “a child with a chart before him would 
tell you it must be a wind from the north.” 
He then goes on to say, that as a north wind 
was unfavourable for the Straits of Messina, 
the vessel was compelled either to u beat the 
seas, or make to some port.” Accordingly 
they put into Syracuse. After three days, 
however, a side-wind fortunately sprung up, 
(Bryant has omitted to tell us whether it blew 
from the east or from the west,) and carried 
the ship into Regium. 

On the other hand, if the Castor and 
Pollux sailed from Malta, Bryant confesses 
himself altogether puzzled and baffled in his 
attempts to account for her subsequent course. 
And why ? Simply because the historian of 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


129 


these most interesting voyages has not thought 
it necessary to inform us of the cause of 
their detention at Syracuse? Bryant accord¬ 
ingly pronounces the whole account to be 
“ very unsatisfactory, not to say unintelli¬ 
gible,” and he declares that he can see u no 
reason for their stay at Syracuse, nor for 
their taking such a circuit to get to Rhe- 
gium.” But 44 the child with a chart before 
him,” just now brought forward by Bryant, 
would have informed him that Syracuse lies 
directly in the track of a vessel sailing from 
Malta to Rhegium. And it is easy to ima¬ 
gine many reasons which might have in¬ 
duced them to put into Syracuse; as tem¬ 
pestuous weather, or a wish to land or take 
on board passengers or cargo. 

Several circumstances might be brought 
forward to show that it is highly improbable 
that St. Paul was shipwrecked on Meleda. 

£ 


130 


LETTERS FROM 


Bryant himself has furnished us with one 
argument. In his eagerness to establish the 
fact that the inhabitants of Malta were not a 
barbarous people, while those of Meleda 
richly deserved this appellation, he goes 
rather further than he intended. He proves 
that the latter were such atrocious pirates 
and robbers, that the Romans had found it 
necessary in self-defence to attack the island, 
and had destroyed nearly all the inhabitants. 
Now we cannot believe that the remnant of 
these piratical wretches would have treated 
the poor half-drowned company with such 
kindness and hospitality; on the contrary, 
there can be no doubt that they would have 

%J 

murdered them as soon as they landed for the 
sake of their clothes, or any goods that 
might be recovered from the wreck; for in 
whatever place the vessel was cast on shore, 
it is evident that the crew were first disco- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


131 


vered, and kindly sheltered by the natives , 
“ the barbarous people,” so called by the histo¬ 
rian, because they spoke an unknown language. 

I shall only add, that the present inhabi¬ 
tants of Malta most firmly and zealously 
believe that their island has been honoured 
by a visit from the apostle. They have even 
dedicated a church to St. Publius , who, ac¬ 
cording to their tradition, was made a bishop 
by St. Paul, as a reward for his hospitality; 
and the Maltese assert, that since that time 
the island has never been without a Christian 
bishop. 

Having now, I trust, quite convinced you 
that Malta is indeed the Melita mentioned in 
the Acts, we will visit that part of the island, 
which the unvarying tradition of the inhabi¬ 
tants, and the form of the coast, point out as 
the exact spot where the shipwreck took place. 

We set off on our expedition to St. Paul’s 

k 2 


132 


LETTERS FROM 


Bay at seven in the morning in a boat, with 
four men and our servant Michele, who ap¬ 
peared delighted to accompany us. As we 
coasted along the shore, we had an oppor¬ 
tunity of seeing that this part of the island 
had all the same desolate appearance as the 
country in the neighbourhood of Yaletta. 
The disfiguring stone walls intersected the 
land in every direction, and the low rocky 
shore made the view very tame and uninte¬ 
resting. On almost every projecting head¬ 
land we observed small square forts, or 
watch-towers, which are garrisoned by a 
few Maltese soldiers, stationed there to give 
the alarm in case of an invasion, and to pre¬ 
vent people from landing from vessels which 
have not performed quarantine. 

When we arrived at the bay we crossed 
over to the little island of Selmone, on 
which we endeavoured to land; but find- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


133 


ing it impossible to effect this without 
endangering our boat, we at last, with 
some difficulty, got on shore on the main 
land on the rocky point, where it is be 
lieved that the unfortunate “ ship of Alex¬ 
andria” finished her last voyage. Those 
who have investigated the subject affirm, 
that there is no other part of Malta which 
will agree with the description given in the 
Acts, but that here, during a Euroclydon, 
which is supposed to have been a violent gale 
of wind from the north, or north-east quarter, 
there is a heavy swell, rushing round each 
side of Selmone, and forming, indeed, a 
place where two seas meet in the narrow 
channel, which separates the island from the 
main land. The bay is about seven miles 
north-west from Valetta, and is rather more 
than a mile wide, and about two deep, ap¬ 
pearing from the sea like the mouth of a large 


134 


LETTERS FROM 


river, and it is therefore a place where, sup¬ 
posing it to be a secure haven, any tempest- 
tost mariner would be glad to take refuge. 
Selmone may be about half-a-mile in length, 
and does not appear as an island till you 
have advanced some distance into the bay. 

On these rocks we remained some time, 
meditating on the beautiful narrative of 
the voyage, and thinking that, perhaps, 
covered by the boiling sea beneath our 
feet, there still existed some fragment of 
the ship, which eighteen hundred years 
ago was here “ broken with the violence 
of the waves.” We collected some pieces 
of the rock, which w'e preserved, both 
as memorials of the spot, and as specimens 
of Maltese stone for the cabinets of our 
mineralogical friends at home. On the hill, 
just above the point, we found some very 
pretty little blue flowers, which we had not seen 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


135 


in blossom before, though the leaves are 
abundant in the neighbourhood of Sliema. 
I believe this plant is a species of ixia. 

As we had sent our boat round to meet us 
in a little cove about a mile distant, we now 
walked along the north-west side of the bay, 
searching for plants and other treasures, 
but we found nothing very valuable, except 
a pretty species of heath, and a stock with a 
pink flower, but having scarcely any scent. 
A milk-white snail-shell (helix candidissima) 
was very abundant here, but we could not 
find a single specimen which had the animal 
alive in it, or as a conchologist would say, 
they were all dead shells. After making a 
totally unsuccessful attempt with the dredge, 
we rowed to the bottom of the bay, where we 
again landed, and visited a large thriving 
plantation of young mulberry-trees, which had 
been planted for the purpose of feeding 


136 


LETTERS FROM 


silkworms. In the spaces between the 
trees the cotton-shrub was growing. It has 
much the appearance of a currant-bush, but 
at this season of the year has neither leaves 
nor blossoms. We climbed over the low wall 
of the plantation to gather a few dead cotton- 
pods that were still remaining on some of 
the shrubs, not supposing them to be of any 
value to the owner; but this was an offence 
which even Maltese civility could not tole¬ 
rate, and a man at a distance expressed his 
disapprobation in a very angry tone. 

From the plantation we walked along the 
south-shore to the spot which has been fixed 
upon by Maltese imagination as that where 
St. Paul first preached on the island. Here 
is a rough monument, on which is a small 
image, and underneath is this inscription : 
“ Omnes gentes venient et glorificabunt 
nomen tuum. Psal. lxxxvi. A.D. mdccxxv.” 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


137 


At the foot of the monument is a spring of 
water, which is attributed to the miraculous 
agency of the apostle. A little further along 
the coast is St. Paul’s Tower, a strong square 
building, with a ditch and a drawbridge, and 
inhabited by seven or eight soldiers. 

We now re-embarked, and after enjoying 
a “ good, honest, wholesome, hungry repast,” 
we once more threw the dredge overboard, 
but having towed it in various directions 
across the bay, and obtained nothing but 
weeds, we crossed over to the other side, 
and dredged in the narrow channel between 
Selmone and the mainland, in the spot 
where some of the more imperishable parts 
of the wreck may possibly still be in ex¬ 
istence. And here we fished up from the 
bottom—what do you think? an ancient 
Roman coin, or a rust-devoured helmet or 
breastplate ? No such thing, only a few small 


138 


LETTERS FROM 


pebbles, which we added to our stock of 
relics. 

But if this be really the spot where the 
ship was wrecked, and of this I have no 
doubt from all I have heard or read upon 
the subject, is it altogether impossible 
that by descending in a diving-bell some 
part of her might be discovered ? A vessel 
large enough to have carried “ two hundred 
three-score and sixteen souls” must have had 
very heavy anchors and other articles of 
metal, and though these may long ago have 
been entirely reduced to the state of oxide, I 
believe it possible that they may still be in 
existence in that form. A portion of the 
woodwork even may have been preserved by 
being embedded in the sand. 

On our way homewards, we made trials 
with the dredge in several places, but met 
with no success. We landed in St. Mark’s 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


139 


Bay, and by wading in the shallow water, 
we found a few small shells, and some beau¬ 
tiful echini or sea-eggs, with long green and 
purple spines. These sea-eggs are eaten 
by some persons, but I have not courage to 

taste them. It is dangerous to wade with- 

* 

out shoes in places where they abound, for 
the spines run into the feet, and breaking 
off, cannot be extracted without great dif¬ 
ficulty. There have been instances of per¬ 
sons losing their limbs in this manner. We 
here met with an old man who was catching 
eels by dropping a baited hook into the 
holes and crevices among the rocks close to 
the shore, and in order to see the bottom 
more clearly, he had recourse to the inge¬ 
nious contrivance of sprinkling on the water 
a few drops of oil, which had the effect of 
making the surface perfectly smooth in an 
instant. The eels he caught were large, 


140 


LETTERS FROM 


disgusting, spotted, snake-like creatures, but 
I have since found, that when properly 
cooked they make a most delicious dish. 
From St. Mark’s Bay we proceeded directly 
homewards, for our want of success was so 
discouraging that we made no further use of 
our dredge on that day. 

We sometimes obtain a few cowries, 
(i cyprcea lari da,) as large as a walnut, 
and some other shells, by a process 
called “ clamping,” which has proved a 
more successful method of collecting than 
dredging. Clamps are a sort of strong iron 
pincers or tongs, which the boatmen lower 
down to the bottom with ropes, and by this 
means draw up large stones for the sake of 
the oysters adhering to them, and the 
large boring shells, (.lithodomus dactylus) 
by which they are perforated. The animals 
of the latter are esteemed a great delicacy. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


141 


The shells of the oysters (spondylus gcedo- 
ropus) are ornamented with beautiful pink 
spines, and the animals are of a reddish 
colour, but are inferior in flavour to those 
caught on the English coast. Clamping can 
only be performed when the water is smooth, 
as it is necessary to see the bottom dis¬ 
tinctly, in order to fix the instruments pro- 
properly to the stones, but when the surface 
is only slightly ruffled by a breeze, the 
method adopted by the eel-fisherman will 
render it as smooth as a mirror. The sur¬ 
prising effect produced by a few drops of 
oil is well known to the Maltese fishermen, 
and by this means we are enabled to see 
distinctly to the depth of twenty or thirty 
feet, for the water in these seas is almost as 

l 

transparent as air; much more transparent, 
indeed, than the atmosphere of London at 
certain seasons of the year. We find that 


142 


LETTERS FROM 


we can see the bottom much more clearly by 
leaning over the gunwale of the boat so as 
to bring the eyes within an inch or two of 
the surface of the water. While in this 
position, however, the observer of the beau¬ 
tiful submarine view should caution his 
companions not to change their places sud¬ 
denly, or a complete immersion of his face 
will be the consequence. On the stones 
which we draw up with the clamps, we some¬ 
times find small branches of red coral, 
{eschara truncata ,) but the colour soon 
fades by exposure to the air. We some¬ 
times bring home half a boat-load of the 
larger stones and break them to pieces, by 
which means we obtain several species of 
boring-shells and other marine animals. In 
the holes in the stones we find a very 
curious little crab, which has the power 
of striking a smart blow when taken 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


143 


into the hand, making at the same time a 
snapping noise, which it repeats several 
times after being put into a bottle of spirits 
of wine. I have not yet ascertained how 
this feat is performed, but probably the ani¬ 
mal is furnished with an apparatus similar to 
that by which beetles of the genus elater , 
spring up when laid on then’ backs. 

In St. Julian’s Bay we have found a few 
specimens of the trochus margaritaceus, 
a pretty little shell with a pearly mouth. 
These shells are confined to a very small 
part of the pebbly beach, beyond which it is 
in vain to seek for them, neither have we 
been able to find them on any other part of 
the coast. 

We have been very successful in our 
search for chitons, and have collected several 
hundred specimens of five or six different 
species: some of them are more than an 


144 


LETTERS FROM 


inch and a half in length. After finding 
these monsters 1 fear I shall despise the small 
English chitons we used to search for with 
so much interest. I have made a drawing of 
two of the largest species, (chiton siculus,) 
to show how much they differ from each 
other in colour and markings. No. 1 is 
the most common variety, but the smaller 
and more prettily marked specimen is occa¬ 
sionally found. It is singular that the two sides 
of the same individual almost always differ from 
each other. To obtain these chitons, I wade 
in the water where it is about two feet deep, 
and turn over the stones, on the underside 
of which they are found sticking fast, like 
limpets. To preserve them properly requires 
some care, for if not prevented, they immedi¬ 
ately curl up when removed from the stones, 
and it will be found impossible to straighten 
them again without injuring them. We 



J {ZZivZo/v Sz-cttZi^s 2 -Z3u,Zz+ /?i us dscolZaitu 

























MALTA AND SICILY. 


145 


therefore immediately tie them down to flat 
strips of wood, and having killed them with 
hot water, we keep them in that position till 
they are nearly dry and stiff. We then take 
them off, and carefully scrape out the fleshy 
part underneath, after which we gum them 
down on stiff pasteboard, to prevent the thin 
outside edge or margin from being broken. 
This excellent method of preserving chitons 
was communicated to me by Mr. Stuchbury, 
of the Bristol Philosophical Institution. 

I take so much interest in searching for 
our favourite chitons, that I sometimes re¬ 
main up to my knees in the water for four or 
five hours at a time. It is cold work for the 
hands and feet certainly, and by handling the 
rough stones, the tips of the fingers become 
very sore, and sometimes even bleed from 
the skin being worn through. When in this 
state, the salt-water is not a very soothing 


L 


146 


LETTERS FROM 


application. Gloves of any kind, when 
saturated with water, are a great incumbrance. 
I have procured two pieces of thick leather, 
like those which bricklayers sometimes use 
in wet weather, to prevent the skin of their 
fingers from being worn away by the bricks, 
but I have not yet made trial of my protec¬ 
tors. 

Should you be acquainted with any collec¬ 
tor about to visit Malta, he may be glad 
to be informed that an excellent place for 
finding chitons, indeed by far the best that 
we have discovered, is in the quarantine har¬ 
bour, close to the road leading from the 
island on which the lazaret stands, to the 
village of Sliema. The water here is about 
two feet deep, and the bottom is covered 
with large loose stones, on which will be 
found chitons of several species, and one 
kind (c. siculus) in great abundance. On 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


147 


these stones we also find a very pretty spe¬ 
cies of haliotis, or sea-ear, a curious limpet, 
(jissurella,) with a hole at the apex, and 
several other shells and marine curiosities. 
If the constitution of the collector will not 
allow him to wade in the water, any of the 
boatmen will be happy to wait on him for a 
trifling reward; but in this case he had 
better himself remove the chitons from the 
stones, which operation should be very care¬ 
fully performed with a thin, but blunt knife, 
to avoid injuring the outside edge or margin. 

After wading in the water for several hours, 
it is very delightful to put on dry clothes, 
and to spend the remainder of the day by 
the fire-side, examining the contents of our 
baskets and boxes, preparing chitons, and 
extracting the animals from the shells. The 
last operation often gives us a great deal of 
trouble, especially with the animals of some 

l 2 


148 


LETTERS FROM 


of the land-shells, which contract so when 
killed by hot water, that it is almost impos¬ 
sible to extract them. Indeed, we do not 
attempt to do so with the smaller shells, but 
we put them out of doors in a plate till the 
smell is gone off. I have found that a weak 
solution of the arseniated soap, used for pre¬ 
serving birds’ skins, diminishes the odour 
greatly. 

If you had the power of looking in upon 
us without warning, I fear you would be 
shocked at the untidy state of our apart¬ 
ment. It is in an especial muddle at the pre¬ 
sent moment. Several tables are covered 
with paper trays of shells, or bottles of in¬ 
sects, lizards, and marine animals-; and even 
that on which I am writing is strewed over 
with the refuse of plants, while at the other 
end is my indefatigable companion, with two 
basins before him nearly filled with the ani- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


149 


mals he has been extracting from some 
snails. In one corner of the room is an 
apparatus for pressing plants, consisting of 
two large boards, and a great rough stone for 
a weight. In another corner lies a confused 
heap of flat sticks and tangled string, used 
for tying down chitons, and on the mantel¬ 
piece is a collection of tin boxes of various 
forms and sizes, with other collecting appa¬ 
ratus. To complete the picture, dear little 
Minna, who is reposing by my side with her 
head in my lap, has jumped up without 
having taken the precaution of wiping her 
muddy feet, of which she has left several 
exact impressions on the white sofa-cover. 
Poor Michele does his best to keep things in 
order; but in a short time the room is as 
untidy as ever again, and I wonder he does 
not give up the attempt in despair. 

A week or two ago I had the pleasure 


150 


LETTERS FROM 


of meeting my old and valued friend, Lieu¬ 
tenant B-, who came into this port from 

the Levant in his noble ship the Britannia. 
On the day she arrived we had set out for a 
ramble along the coast to St. George’s Bay, 
but had no sooner mounted the rising ground 
at the back of our house, than casting our 
• eyes seaward, we saw a grand spectacle, which 
entirely altered our plans for that morning. 
At the distance of about a mile from the 
land was the Britannia, followed by several 
other large ships, majestically standing in for 
the harbour’s mouth, with a light breeze, just 
sufficient to fill their white canvass. Having 
returned to the house, and hastily effected a 
slight change in our costume, we ran to Fort 
Tigne, and crossed over to Yaletta, just in 
time to see the ships enter the Grand Har¬ 
bour. We had hoped that the Admiral’s 
ship and some of the batteries in the town 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


151 


would have exchanged salutes, but not a 
gun was fired on either side. 

A few days after their arrival I had the 
pleasure of half-an-hour’s conversation with 

B-at the Porlatorio, on the other side 

of the Grand Harbour; for as the ships came 
from an unhealthy country, they had to per¬ 
form a fortnight’s quarantine ; and on the 
day they received pratique , I spent a very 
pleasant morning on board the Britannia, 
over which I was kindly conducted by 

Lieutenant B-. Nothing could exceed 

the beautiful order and cleanliness of every 
part of this immense floating battery; and I 
was particularly pleased with the kindness of 
my friend’s manner, when he had occasion to 
reprove one or two of the men for some 
slight neglect of their duty. Indeed, I be¬ 
lieve it is principally owing to his good 
government, in which the greatest firmness 




152 


LETTERS FROM 


is tempered with kindness and attention to 
the comforts of the crew, that the Britannia 
is considered to be one of the best regulated, 
and most orderly ships in his Majesty’s ser¬ 
vice. 

We retired to B-’s comfortable little 

state-room, and spent some time in looking 
over his sketch-book, which contained several 
interesting views of scenes he had recently 
visited. Turning over the leaves, my atten¬ 
tion was suddenly attracted by an old rubbed 
pencil-drawing, which seemed, I knew not 
why, to carry my thoughts home to my native 

land in an instant. I said to B-, “ I 

surely know this place ! ” “ It would be a 

very poor compliment to the skill of the 
artist if you did not,” replied he, “ for it is a 
sketch I made some years ago near your 
sister’s cottage, in the beautiful vhlley at 
H- 





MALTA AND SICILY. 


153 


I cannot describe my sensations at thus 
unexpectedly meeting with this well-known 
scene in a foreign land; and for the re¬ 
mainder of that day my thoughts were more 
than usually directed towards home and dis¬ 
tant friends. 


154 


LETTERS FROM 


LETTER V. 

Sliema, March lstf, 1834. 

Our friend, Dr. -, inquires, whether 

Malta would be a suitable winter residence 
for those invalids who require a warmer tem¬ 
perature than can be secured in any part 
of England. An opinion of the climate, 
founded on an experience of three months 
only, will not be of much value, and we 
have been too much engaged to pay very 
close attention to the subject, for, except in 
very wet weather, almost all our hours of 
daylight have been occupied in endeavour¬ 
ing, by the utmost diligence in collecting, 
to compensate in some degree for the ex- 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


155 


treme unproductiveness of this island in 
natural curiosities. 

I am informed by those who have resided 
here for some years, that the winter has been 
rather milder than usual. Our short and 
very imperfect observations on the weather, 
will be found at the end of this letter. The 
height of the thermometer has been noted 
at eight o’clock in the morning, and though 
a later hour in the day would, perhaps, have 
been preferable, the uncertainty of our being 
at home at that time would have occasioned 
a much greater number of omissions in this 
column than it already contains. 

But this register certainly presents much 
too favourable a view of the climate; for to our 
feelings the changes in the temperature have 
occasionally been painfully sudden, while the 
variation has appeared very much greater 
than the thermometer has indicated, and had 


156 


LETTERS FROM 


that been consulted at a later hour in the day, 
I believe that the result of our observations 
would have been very different. I can 
imagine no sort of weather more injurious 
to an invalid with weak lungs than the sud¬ 
den alterations of temperature we were ex¬ 
posed to a few days ago in the streets of 
Valetta. It is well even for the sound lungs 
that such days do not often occur. The 
sky was perfectly clear and cloudless, and 
the heat of the sun in sheltered situations 
quite oppressive, while at the same time a 
bitterly cold wind was blowing from the 
north or north-west, so that when we turned 
the corner of a street, and were exposed to 
its influence, we seemed to pass at once 
from the usual temperature of an English 
June to the piercing blasts of December. 
However, we have not had more than six or 
seven days of this distressing weather dur- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


157 


mg the winter. At such times invalids 
should not upon any account venture to 
leave the house, where they will probably 
suffer no injury from the effects of this 
piercing wind, as its temperature is not in 
reality so low as those who are exposed to it 
might suppose. 

In justice to this disagreeable little free¬ 
stone rock, I must mention among “ the qua¬ 
lities o’ the isle,” two inducements which it 
offers to invalids to choose it for their liiber- 
nacula. These are, first, that it can boast of 
a beautifully clear and apparently a very 
dry atmosphere; and, secondly, that excel¬ 
lent accommodation can be obtained on 
moderate terms. In Valetta there are several 
very well-conducted hotels, where may be 
enjoyed every English comfort and luxury, 
and invalids in a foreign land will surely 
not esteem it the least of these, that when 


158 


LETTERS FROM 


confined to the house they can sit by their 
fireside and feel the invigorating warmth of 
English coal. Though my companion has 
ceased to consider himself an invalid, and 
does not appear to have any disease remain¬ 
ing, we have indulged ourselves with the 
luxury of a cheerful fire almost every day 
since we left the lazaret, and the evenings 
have been so cool, that it was quite ne¬ 
cessary. 

I had looked forward with some pleasure 
to the carnival, but the rain and the wind 
very soon put a stop to the amusements. It 
began on Sunday, the 9th of last month, 
and, if the weather had permitted, would 
have continued for three days. As I came 
home from church in the morning, I saw 
several odd masks parading the streets of 
Valetta, both on horseback and on foot, 
some with heads like parrots, dogs, and 


MALTA AND SICrLY. 


159 


pigs, and large quantities of imitation 
sugar-plums, made of lime or plaster of 
Paris, and of various colours, were exposed 
for sale. These are used as missiles in 
the harmless warfare, which must, I think, 
be the most amusing part of the proceed¬ 
ings. 

The next day we had a tremendous gale 
of wind from the north-east, accompanied 
with heavy and nearly incessant rain. A 
gale of wind from this quarter is here called 
“ a gregale,” and as it is believed to be 
synonymous with the euroclydon, it was 
quite in character with the day, (February 
10th,) which is kept by the Maltese as the 
anniversary of St. Paul’s shipwreck, though 
it is impossible to determine the exact time 
of the event from the account in the Acts ; 
indeed, it is supposed to have happened in 
the latter end of October. Sugar-plum 


160 


LETTERS FROM 


pelting, and parading the streets in masks, 
are very childish amusements for men and 
women to partake in; but it is so delightful 
to see people thoroughly enjoying them¬ 
selves, that I could not help feeling for the 
bitter disappointment of the carnival re¬ 
vellers, especially of the lower orders, many 
of whom are said to save up their money for 
some weeks before, to enable them to buy or 
hire a dress for the occasion. 

In the morning I went with our friend, 

Mr. N-, to St. Paul’s Church, where 

there was a grand festa, as it is called. 
Here we heard some good music and sing¬ 
ing, after which a learned monk delivered a 
discourse in Italian, which my companion 
informed me was a narration of St. Paul’s 
arrival on the island, and of the conversion 
of the inhabitants to Christianity. The gale 
was so violent, and there was so much swell 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


161 


in the harbour when I crossed over from Sliema 
in the morning, that it was as much as four 
men could do to pull across; and on return¬ 
ing to the waterside about noon, I was 
informed that it was no longer safe to make 
the attempt, so I was obliged to walk round 
to Sliema, a distance of four or five miles in 
the soaking rain. 

The gale continued all the next day, with 
increasing violence, but with less rain. 
Nothing could exceed the grandeur of the 
scene at the point beyond FortTigne, where, 
from the violence of the wind, it was almost 
impossible to stand without some shelter or 
support. The heavy seas dashing against 
the opposite point of St. Elmo, appeared to 
rise in the air at least a hundred feet. Dur¬ 
ing the gale the atmosphere was so thick 
and hazy, that it was impossible to dis¬ 
tinguish any object at the distance of more 


M 


1 62 


LETTERS FROM 


than a mile or two. While we were at the 
point sheltering ourselv es behind a wall, we 
perceived, through the mist a small Greek 
brig, with scarcely any sail set, driving 
rapidly before the wind towards the land. 
For some time we were in great anxiety 
for her safety, for the entrance to the 
harbour is very narrow, and had she missed 
it, no earthly power could have saved the 
lives of those on board. In a few mi¬ 
nutes, however, she scudded quickly past 
the point, and we soon had the pleasure 
of seeing her securely moored near the 
lazaret. 

Towards evening the gale abated a little, 
and the next day we had fine pleasant wea¬ 
ther again, with a gentle breeze from the 
westward. We went over to the town in the 
morning, having heard that some damage 
had been occasioned in the Grand Harbour 



Z ABBA II GATE 


































♦ 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


163 


by the gale of the two preceding days. We 
found that the St. Vincent, three-decker, had 
parted from her moorings, and was aground 
at the upper end of the harbour; but it was 
expected that she would be got off again 
without much damage. A brig, of between 
one and two hundred tons, was driven on 
shore near the custom-house, and was lying- 
on her beam-ends, and a smaller vessel was 
aground near her. The boats and small 
craft in the harbour had also suffered a great 
deal, and the large stones on the wharf near 
the Nix Mangiare Stairs had been torn up 
in an extraordinary manner. In the after¬ 
noon we walked to St. Julian’s Bay, where 
we found that a large mass of rock, several 
tons in weight, round which we used to find 
the trochus maryaritaceus , had been turned 
over and washed up much higher on the 
beach. During these gales the light spray 


164 


LETTERS FROM 


of the sea drives over the country lihe fine 
rain, and as far as it reaches produces a sad 
effect on vegetation, especially on the peas 
and beans, which become black and withered. 
We passed a field of beans a mile or two 
inland, which had suffered greatly from this 
salt sprinkling, and it is sometimes felt as 
far as Citta Vecchia, which cannot be less 
than five miles from the sea. 

Since my last letter we have continued 
our dredging operations, but have met with 
very little encouragement. I am almost 
ashamed to make any more attempts, for I 
can see that even our boatmen are amused 
at our want of success. We have obtained 
permission of the superintendent of quaran¬ 
tine to dredge in the harbour opposite our 
house; but after having scraped the bottom 
over thoroughly from one end to the other, 
we have added only a few insignificant 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


165 


shells to our small collection. We often 
find in our net some curious animals of the 
genus holotkuria: they are of a dark brown 
colour, and in appearance are not unlike 
large kidney potatoes. They are certainly 
very low in the scale of existence, for the 
only proof they give of possessing animal 
life is a slow twisting motion ; and on dis¬ 
section, they are found to consist of an ex¬ 
ceedingly tough thick skin, the contents of 
which leather-bag are chiefly water and sand. 
But though their skin is so hard, they have 
the power of fitting themselves exactly into 
any inequality of the surface, and when laid 
in a basket, they soon become indented 
with an impression of the wicker-work, 
which appearance continues for some time 
after they are removed. Some of these sin¬ 
gular creatures are seven or eight inches in 
length, and nearly as thick as a man’s wrist. 


166 


LETTERS FROM 


They are very disagreeble in appearance, 
and though not easily affected by such ope¬ 
rations, I found the dissection of a very 

* «/ 

large holothuria the most disgusting job I 
had ever been engaged in. Animals of this 
genus, and very similar in appearance to 
those I have described, are a common ar¬ 
ticle of food with the Chinese. They are found 
in great numbers on the shores of some of 
the South Sea Islands, where they are col¬ 
lected and salted, and the demand is so 
considerable, that many vessels are employed 
in the trade. 

Having heard that shells w^ere to be found 
in a bay, called Marsa Scala, which lies 
three or four miles south-east of Valetta, 
one morning before sunrise we set off' in a 
boat for a long day’s excursion. We dredged 
for some time in Marsa Scala and in St. 
Thomas’s Bay, but found no shells; and 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


167 


then, by the advice of our boatmen, we pro¬ 
ceeded to Marsa Scirocco, at the south¬ 
eastern end of the island, passing between 
Cape Delimara and the Ittactia Rock. After 
passing the Cape we encountered a fresh 
westerly breeze, with a short disagreeable 
sea, which made us glad to pull into the 
bottom of the bay for shelter. Here we 
landed, and after wading in the shallow 
water for some time, we made another en¬ 
tirely unsuccessful attempt with the dredge. 
Tired of this employment, and pinched with 
the cold wind, we sailed back along the 
coast to a sheltered cove, near St. Thomas’s 
Bay, where we dined. As it was a fast-day, 
neither our boatmen nor Michele would eat 
any meat, but they made a meal of bread 
and cheese and anchovies, which fish are so 
cheap here, that they are a common article 
of food with the lower orders. Here we 


168 


LETTERS FROM 


met with a few specimens of the little 
pearly-mouthed shell, the trochus marga- 
ritaceus. 

Near this cove is a remarkable cavern, 
into which we rowed our boat for seventy or 
eighty yards, when we could perceive a 
glimmering of daylight at the end of a nar¬ 
row passage to the right, but the roof was 
so low that w r e could proceed no further in 
that direction. What appeared to be the 
principal branch turned of!' to the left, and 
had we been provided with lights, I should 
have been glad to have explored it further. I 
took no measure of the dimensions, but the 
average width might be about twenty feet, 
and the height from eight to twelve, and the 
water appeared to be of great depth all 
the way. Our boatmen had never entered 
this cavern before, supposing that it ex¬ 
tended only a few yards. The coast from St. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


169 


Thomas’s Bay to Marsa Scirocco is of a 
much bolder character than any part we 
have seen; some of the cliffs appeared to 
be from one hundred to one hundred and 
fifty feet in height. 

We were several hours rowing back to 
Sliema, against a piercing north-west wind. 
Miserably cold, and wet, and hungry, we 
were glad to take refuge at last in our com¬ 
fortable home, and to enjoy the consolations 
of dry clothes, a blazing lire, and a plentiful 
meal. 

I am heartily weary of this dull tideless 
sea! An occasional exposure of a muddy 
shore even would be almost as agreeable as 
this total stagnation of the water, for here 
the collector of marine curiosities has no 
opportunity of searching for treasures left 
by the retreating waves. I cannot account 
for the scarcity of shells on this coast; those 


170 


LETTERS FROM 


we collect ourselves are small and not very 
beautiful, but we have bought a few tolerably 
fine shells of the fishermen, who occasionally 
find them in the baskets which they sink to 
the bottom for the purpose of catching 
crabs. These crab-pots are always set on 
rocky ground, where it is impossible to use 
a dredge, and as we can obtain very few 
shells on the sandy bottom, I conclude they 
prefer the former situation from finding a 
better supply of food there. 

We have been much more successful in 
our search for land-shells, which I think are 
rather plentiful on this island. One very 
curious species, the bulimus decollotus , is 
very common here: the full-grown shells 
have invariably several of the upper coils 
broken off, so that they appear imperfect, 
but the young of this species are not thus 
mutilated. The little left-handed shell, 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


171 


(clausilia tuberculataj mentioned in a 
former letter, is abundant, and so is a very 
prettily marked snail-shell, which I am in¬ 
formed is the helix melitensis , and found 
only on this island. We have a few specimens 
of another reversed shell, (clausilia labiata,) 
which is of a very pale brown colour, and 
deeply striated, or furrowed. On some waste 
rocky ground, beyond St. George’s Bay, we 
have met with many live specimens of helix 
candidissima , the dead shells of which we 
had before found at St. Paul’s Bay; and in 
a marshy spot at Coradino, we find the helix 
naticoides, a large semi-transparent amber- 
coloured shell, with the animal quite black, 
and appearing a great deal too large for its 
habitation. To those who are fond of snails, 
the h. naticoides would, I should think, be a 
very tender and juicy morsel. 

We were informed by one of our friends, 


172 


LETTERS FROM 


the boatmen, that some very large chitons, 
which he called “ Turk's fruit ” were to be 
found on the rocks round Fort Manuel, and 
we therefore applied to the superintendent of 
quarantine for a pass, without which no one 
is allowed to cross the bridge, or to land 
from a boat. We spent a whole morning on 
the island, and found several new shells, among 
which were some large trochi; but for chitons, 
the part of the harbour I have before mention¬ 
ed is a much better situation. A fisherman 
lately brought me some “ sea-oranges,” as 
they are called; they are found adhering to 
the sea-weed, and appear to belong to the 
sponge-tribe. They are composed of a thick 
outer covering of a deep yellow-colour, and 
granulated texture, enclosing a fibrous grey¬ 
ish substance, and they have very much the 
appearance of the fruit from which they are 
named, though not more than half the size. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


173 


Green lizards are very abundant on almost 
every old wall. We have blow-piped a 
great many, and several of the kind called 
wood-slaves: the latter have such tough 
skins and constitutions, that a pellet of clay, 
unless discharged from a very short distance, 
often produces no effect whatever on them ; 
1 have therefore adopted the plan of mixing 
a few small shot with it, which increases the 
force of the blow greatly. We do not meet 
with many snakes at this season of the year, 
but I have several kinds, one of which has very 
much the appearance of a viper, but on examin¬ 
ing his mouth he proves to be quite a harmless 
species, having no venomous fangs. One 
day when we were botanizing at Coradino, 
William saw a large, and nearly black snake, 
but he had retreated into his hole before I 
could reach the spot; neither did he think 
proper to appear again, though we remained 


174 


LETTERS FROM 


some time in the neighbourhood. Perhaps 
his instinct taught him that there was an ex¬ 
perienced snake-hunter lying in wait for his 
destruction. I have captured a small snake, 
probably of the same species, under a stone 
near our house. An examination of his 
mouth proved that he was harmless, but he 
darted his head about in such a threatening 
manner, that I was afraid to seize him in my 
hand, not having yet proved the truth of the 
assertion, that there are no venomous snakes 
in the island, though I fully believe it to be 
correct. 

With the exception of the sandpiper, 
mentioned in my letter from the lazaret, I 
have not seen a single bird differing from 
those of our own country. All kinds of birds 
are very scarce here, but quails and beccaficos 
visit the island at certain seasons. 

My collection of insects consists chiefly 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


175 


of the genera carabus* curculio 9 * and 
scar abacus .* I have also several kinds of 
locusts, and a large brown mantis. We have 
seen no butterflies differing from the British 
species. The clouded yellow (colias edtisa ) 
is very abundant in the neighbourhood of 
Sliema; but they are so shy and restless, 
that it is very difficult to catch them: in this 
respect they resemble all those I have met 
with in England. The gate-keeper and the 
large white butterfly are also very plentiful 
here. The bright colours and perfect wings 
of these three butterflies, prove that they 
have come forth from the chrysalis state 
very recently. We find many small scor¬ 
pions, which we are told are not venomous, 
but we trust them not, for they have a sharp 
sting at the end of their tails; and it is evi- 


* Linnean genera. 


176 


LETTERS FROM 


dent from the menacing way in which they 
hold it up over their backs, that whether 
they can make use of it or not, they think 
they can. 

Since my last letter, by the kindness of a 

young naval officer, Mr. L-, of Sliema, 

we have been introduced to Dr. Leach, the 
celebrated entomologist, who is now living at 
a place called the Pieta, at the head of the 
quarantine harbour. I had always fancied 
him to be a pompous old fellow in a great 
wig; imagine then my surprise on being in¬ 
troduced to a gentleman between thirty and 
forty years of age, of remarkably mild and 
unassuming manners, and appearing quite as 
anxious to receive information as to commu¬ 
nicate it. We have spent several very plea¬ 
sant mornings at his house, examining the 
insects he has collected in this island, and 
in other parts of Europe. This examination 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


177 


has occupied a great deal of time, and has 
led to long conversations on the subject of 
our favourite science, respecting which Dr. 
Leach has so much information to communi¬ 
cate. The most remarkable of the Maltese 
insects in his collection were those of the 
genera buprestis ,* scar abacus^ and mantis ,* 
and he had some very curious beetles allied 
to cicindela , with wide flattened bodies: 
they are to be found in summer near St. 
George’s Bay. With a few exceptions, it 
appears that the Maltese butterflies do not 
differ from the British. The swallow-tail 
butterfly, and the death’s-head moth, are 
both common here in the proper season; 
and Dr. Leach had a fine specimen of the 
former, which had just come out of the 
chrysalis. Among the insects not natives of 

* Linnean genera. 

N 


178 


LETTERS FROM 


this island, were some fine cerambyces from 
Corfu and Italy, and a gigantic carabus from 
Tripoli. Dr. Leach has given me several 
insects, chiefly beetles, and in return I was 
glad to supply him with specimens of the 
cerambyx we sometimes find on the aspho- 
delus, but which he had never seen. 

A few days ago we set off early in the 
morning for a long exploring walk, first going 
along the coast beyond St. George’s Bay, 
when we turned off into the interior, and so 
making a wide circuit, came down to the 
harbour near Fort Manuel. For some dis¬ 
tance we followed the course of a little valley, 
which, though more fertile, or, I should rather 
say, less barren than any part of the island 
we had hitherto visited, was almost totally 
unproductive in novelties, either in plants, 
shells, or insects. Almost the only trees we 
met with on this excursion were the fig, now 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


179 


without foliage, and the carob-tree, or St. 
John’s bread, (ceratonia siliqua,J a beau¬ 
tiful evergreen, with low spreading branches, 
and dark shining leaves. It produces a great 
quantity of flat brown pods, of a mealy con¬ 
sistence and sweetish taste, used as food both 
for men and cattle, but on this island chiefly, 
I believe, for the latter. At present the pods 
are green, and very small. Some persons 
have supposed that it was the fruit of this 
tree which furnished a repast for St. John in 
the wilderness, for they assert that the 
word translated “ locusts” will bear this con¬ 
struction; but there seems no reason for 
such an alteration, as dried locusts are to 
this day an article of food in some eastern 
countries. In the course of our walk we 
discovered a pleasant little grove of carob- 
trees, some of which spread over a surface of 
forty or fifty feet in diameter. On the 

N 2 


180 


LETTERS FROM 


branches we found abundance of the helix 
melitensis, and clausilia tuherculata; the 
latter were unusually large and beautiful. 
While employed in collecting these shells, 
some peasants came up to us, and seemed 
desirous of seeing what we were in search of. 
On exhibiting the contents of our baskets, 
they informed us by signs that these snails 
were unfit for food; and as from our igno¬ 
rance of their language we had no means of 
explaining that we wanted them for any 
other purpose, and as we still persisted in 
collecting all we could find, they no doubt 
informed their friends at home that they had 
met with a couple of very foolish obstinate 
fellows. The large garden-snail is a common 
article of food with the Maltese. 

Here and there we saw a few olive-trees 
which are evergreens, not unlike willows in 
their growth, but with the leaves of a darker 
green. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


131 


The prickly-pear (cactus opuntia) is a 

very common plant here. It is like a cactus 

* 

cultivated in English green-houses, but very 
much larger, as it sometimes attains to the 
height of ten or twelve feet, and the leaves 
are from twelve to eighteen inches in length, 
and one or two in thickness. The whole plant 
is covered with sharp spines. The fruit, 
which grows on the edge of the leaf, is about 
the size of a lemon, but of rather a longer 
form, and has somewhat the appearance of a 
small pine-apple. Many persons consider 
the prickly-pear a delicious fruit, but I have 
not yet learned to like it. The plant is very 
easily propagated, merely by sticking a leaf 
into the ground. The tomata-plant is very 
generally cultivated here, and large quanti¬ 
ties of the fruit are brought to market and 
used in soups and gravies, to which they im¬ 
part a very delicious flavour. 


182 


LETTERS FROM 


It is not an uncommon practice on this 
island to feed horses with green barley, which is 

4 

pulled up by the roots before the appearance 
of the ear, as there is very little pasture- 
land. 

The houses of the peasants and small 
farmers are high, square, flat-roofed build¬ 
ings, without any visible chimneys, appear¬ 
ing more like small towers than dwelling- 
houses ; they have none of the picturesque 
beauty of English cottages, from which also 
they differ in seldom having ornamental gar¬ 
dens around them. The nominal wages of 
labouring men in the country is said to be 
about eightpence a day, which is tolerably 
good pay, considering the low price of pro¬ 
visions ; but from the scarcity of employment, 
I believe they are glad to work for a much 
smaller sum. The food of the lower orders 
consists chiefly of barley-bread, salt pork, 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


183 


anchovies, oil, and Sicily cheese, which last 
is a very poor article indeed, and has scarcely 
any taste but saltness. 

On our return by the side of the harbour 
we met with a man employed in catching 
shrimps, with an apparatus consisting of a 
number of shallow sieves formed of line net¬ 
work stretched upon hoops. They were 
baited with small pieces of fish, and were 
sunk to the bottom by stones fastened round 
the edge, their situation being marked by 
pieces of cork at the end of the lines. 
When they had remained in the water a few 
minutes, they were taken out again by means 
of a long pole with a fork at the end of it, 
when two or three small shrimps, seldom 
more, were generally found in each net. 

Here also was another fisherman provided 
with a line more than a hundred yards in 
length, to which were attached a great num- 


184 


LETTERS FROM 


ber of shorter lines, with several baited hooks 
on each. As this poor man had no boat, 
how do you think he contrived to send his 
apparatus out into the deep water? He had 
fastened one end of his line to a small raft of 
canes lashed together, on which he had 
erected a mast and sail, and the wind blow¬ 
ing from the shore, his hooks were thus car¬ 
ried out as far as the length of his line would 
allow, while he remained on the bank, and 
occasionally drew in his apparatus to re¬ 
place his baits, and to see what success he 
had met with. 

We lately paid a visit to the Lancasterian 
school in Valetta. The boy’s school-room 
may be about a hundred feet long, and 
thirty or forty wide, and the present number 
of scholars is two hundred and forty-six, of 
whom two hundred and ten were present. 
They are received at the age of six, and are 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


185 


instructed in reading, (both in English and 
Italian,) in writing, and in arithmetic. The 
girls have the same instruction as the boys, 
with the addition of sewing. There were 
two hundred and thirteen present, the num¬ 
ber on the books being two hundred and 
seventy-four. Of their skill in the use of 
the needle, we brought away several speci¬ 
mens for the inspection of our friends at 
home. You would have been amused to 
have seen me examining little samples of 
hemming, button-hole making, &c., and 
giving my opinion very learnedly on the 
neatness of the work. These schools are 
supported chiefly by government, and appear 
to be admirably conducted, the Maltese 
spirit of cleanliness pervading every part of 
the establishment. We were informed that 
no religious instruction is given: this is a 
wise regulation in a school, the committee 


186 


LETTERS FROM 


of which includes both Protestants and 
Catholics, who would find it very difficult, to 
agree respecting the sort of instruction to 
be communicated. 

The same day we went to the hospital, 
where there are generally about four hundred 
patients, male and female. The wards are 
very clean, and well ventilated, and the 
greatest attention is paid to the comforts of 
the inmates. Over some of the beds a 
black cross was suspended. On inquiring 
the meaning of this, we were informed that 
these patients had been given over by the 
doctors, and had received the last sacrament. 
One of the wards of this hospital is set 
apart for those patients who have known 
better days. 

We next visited the armoury in the palace. 
It contains about eleven thousand muskets, 
a great many pistols and boarding-pikes, and 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


187 


some ancient armour, guns, and cross-bows. 
Here also is a very curious old cannon, com¬ 
posed of a thin copper tube about three 
inches in diameter, round which a small rope 
is wound, till it is brought to the requisite 
thickness and strength. Of course it would 
bear but a very small charge of powder, but 
it might have been considered a formidable 
weapon at a time when the science of 
gunnery was in its infancy. We were in¬ 
formed that this curious old “ rope gun” was 
brought by one of the grand masters from 
the island of Rhodes. This subject reminds 
me of another singular kind of ordnance 
with which some parts of the coast were for¬ 
merly defended. These are immense mor¬ 
tars, wdiich have been bored out of the solid 
rock; and it is said they were charged with 
several barrels of powder, and about a ton of 
large stones, which being fired into the air, 


188 


LETTERS FROM 


might annoy an enemy considerably. I 
have seen only one of these mortars, which 
is by the water-side, very near our house. It 
is about three feet in diameter, and six or 
eight in depth. But I am informed that 
stone mortars very much larger than this 
were formerly in existence in some parts of 
the coast. 

On the 16th of last month I witnessed a 
grand procession in commemoration of St. 
Paul’s arrival on the island. The company 
were headed by a party of shoemakers, tailors, 
carpenters, and other tradesmen, all dressed 
in white robes, followed by monks of various 
orders, Capuchins, Franciscans, Carmelites, 
Augustines, and Dominicans. Then, borne 
on the shoulders of about twenty men, came 
the statue of St. Paul, a wooden figure, larger 
than life, adorned with a gorgeous flowered 
robe, and having by his side a representation 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


189 


of a fire, with the viper writhing in the flames. 
This figure usually stands in St. Paul’s church, 
from which it is annually brought forth and 
earned through the principal streets of Va- 
letta. Next in the procession were the clergy, 
amounting to two or three hundred in num¬ 
ber, including the students, the youngest 
walking first. These were followed by the 
canons of St. Paul’s church, and last of all 
came the bishop. All the company carried 
long wax candles, but on this occasion the 
wind was so high, that they could not be 
lighted. 

Since I began writing this letter we have 
formed an acquaintance with a Capt. R ——, 
a Swiss gentleman, who has this morning 
informed us that in a few days he proposes 
going to Messina, to which place we have 
suddenly concluded to accompany him, for 
we are weary of this desolate isle. How 



190 


LETTERS FROM 


long we shall remain in Sicily is quite un¬ 
certain, neither have we yet determined how 
we shall proceed homewards from thence. 
We may either take our passage in a vessel 
from Messina to some English port, or we 
may go to Marseilles and so home through 
France. This sudden alteration in our plans 
will prevent us from seeing some parts of 
Malta which we had intended to have visited 
when the spring was more advanced. We 
wished to have explored the south-west 
coast, and to have visited Citta Vecchia, 
and the “ Boschetto.” This place from its 
name and from the annexed view, appears 
to he more woody and pleasant than any 
other part of the island. 

After going on board several vessels in 
the harbour, we have at length taken our 
passage in a small brig, bound for Mascali, 
which lies twenty or thirty miles this side of 



M0S CHETTO 

















MALTA AND SICILY. 


191 


Messina. We do not anticipate any pleasure 
from the voyage, for the vessel is very small, 
and the cabin is close and dirty. However, 
the captain has promised to have it thoroughly 
cleaned, and he added, that he was al¬ 
ways very kind and attentive to his passen¬ 
gers. 

We have been busily employed all the 
day in packing up our collections, procur¬ 
ing passports, and taking leave of our 
friends. From some of these we have re¬ 
ceived much kindness and attention, parti¬ 
cularly from Mr. L-and his lady, and to 

the latter I am indebted for the drawings of 
Valetta and other places on the island with 
which some of my letters have been illus¬ 
trated. I know nothing of the artist, “ C. 
Brocktorff,” but I can certify that he 
has made very accurate drawings of those 
scenes with which I am acquainted, and 



192 


LETTERS FROM 


especially of the Porta Reale, with the 
tremendous artificial chasm in front. 

We were glad to receive intelligence by 
the last packet from England of the safety 
of the vessel we encountered off Cape de 
Gatt. But it appears that she sustained 
more damage than we did, for though she 
put into Cadiz to repair, she still remained 
so leaky that the crew were obliged to keep 
the pumps at work all the remainder of the 
voyage. 

1 will write again from Messina or from 
Marseilles, if we should visit that port. 



PORTA RivALR, 




























1 

2 

3 

4 

5 

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22 

23 

24 

25 

26 

27 

28 

29 

30 

31 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


193 


OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEATHER. 

December, 1833. 


Very fine and warm. 

Fine and clear. Blowing hard from the 
northward. 

Clear and mild. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. Sun rather oppressive. 

Fine and clear. 

Fine, but windy. 

Showery and windy. 

Fine, but cold and windy. 

Cloudy and mild, with heavy showers. 
Cloudy, with occasional showers. 

Clear and windy. 

Very cold, and blowing. 

Ditto. 

Warm and calm. 

Cloudy, and rather cold. 

Clear and cold. 

Cloudy and cold. 

Mild. 

Ditto. 

Cold and blowing, but clear. 

Clear and mild. 

Ditto. 

Very fine and warm, (Christmas-day.) 
Cloudy and mild. 

Ditto. 

Cloudy and rather cold. 

Blowing hard, and cold from the north¬ 
ward. 

Fine and warm. 

Clear and rather cold. 


o 










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2 

3 

4 

5 

6 

7 

8 

9 

10 

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16 

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31 


LETTERS FROM 


OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEATHER, 
January , 1834. 


Fine and clear. 

Fine and windy. 

Cold, windy, and showery. Occasionally 
liail-storms. 

Fine, hut very cold and windy. 

Blowing hard, with small driving rain. 

Fine. 

Calm and bright. Bather too warm in the sun. 
Ditto. 

Morning fine. Blowing and raining in aftern. 
Fine, with a few showers. [ers. 

Blowing hard from westward, wi th heavy show- 
Clear and calm. Heat in the sun oppressive. 
Fine and clear. 

Ditto. 

Clear and very warm. 

Rather cooler. 

Clear and warm. 

Cloudy, but fine and mild. 

Clear, with cold north wind. 

Blowing hard from the westward, but clear 
and mild. 

Ditto. 

Very warm and calm. 

Fine, but cooler. 

Calm and bright. 

Fine, but windy. 

Fine and very warm. 

Fine, but cooler. 

Clear and warm. 

Ditto. 

Ditto. 

Dull and cloudy. Occasional showers. 









MALTA AND SICILY. 


195 



Thermom. 

8 morning. 

OBSERVATIONS ON THE WEATHER, 

February , 1834. 

1 

52 

Windy and wet. Fine in afternoon. 

2 

51 

Clear and rather cool. 

3 

— 

Fine and warm. 

4 

— 

Morning fine. Heavy showers in afternoon. 

5 

54 

Cloudy, with occasional showers. 

6* 

— 

Fine and calm. 

7 

— 

Clear, but very cold. ■ - 

8 

54 

Windy, cold, and wet. 

9 

54 

Fine and mild, but cloudy. 

10 

54 

Heavy gale from N.E., with continued rain. 



( Euroclydon .) 

11 

53 

Ditto. less rain. 

12 

52 

Fine and clear. 

13 

— 

Cold and windy. Heavy showers with hail. 

14 

— 

Fine and warm. 

15 

56 

Clear and rather cool. 

16 

58 

Fine, but windy. 

17 

58 

Blowing hard, with heavy showers. 

18 

— 

Ditto. 

19 

58 

Very windy, but mild and fine. 

20 

59 

Blowing hard from north-eastward. 

21 

56 

Raining and blowing hard. 

22 

— 

Clear and mild. 

23 

57 

Clear, with very cold N.W. wind. 

24 

— 

Hot sun, cold wind. 

25 

— 

Fine, clear, and mild. 

26 

56 

Very fine and warm. 

27 

58 

Ditto. 

28 

—• 

Ditto. 


o ‘2 









196 


LETTERS FROM 


LETTER VI. 

Messina , March 22d, 1834. 

We were detained in Malta several days 
after I closed my last letter by contrary 
winds, but on the evening of Tuesday, 
March 4th, after a very hot and calm day, a 
light breeze arose from the southward, and 
we went on board the vessel in which we 
had engaged a passage to Mascali. We 
did not leave the Grand Harbour till seven 
in the evening. There was very little wind 
when we got under weigh, but it gradually 
increased after sunset, and by midnight we 
had a fine breeze from south-west, which 
forced our sluggish bark through the water 
at the rate of about four miles an hour. Our 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


197 


captain appeared to think this very fast 
sailing. The vessel was a very small brig, 
named the San Pietro, a painting of which 
saint was hung up in the cabin, with a lamp 
burning* before it by night and by day. 
For an English vessel of this size, three 
men and a boy would have been considered 
a very sufficient crew, but we had no less 
than twelve hands on board, a filthy and 
half-savage Company, but very civil and 
good-tempered to us, and I believe they 
did their utmost to make us comfortable. 
They certainly failed in the attempt, for we 
had a most miserable voyage. The cabin 
was very small, and although some attempt 
had been made to purify it, it was still so 
filthy, that as a place of shelter for the 
night it offered fewer attractions, either to 
the eye or to the nose, then the well-littered 
pigsties of an English farm-yard. But the 


198 


LETTERS FROM 


cold at length overcame our disgust, and 
compelled us to take refuge in this den, 
where, hoping to pass a few hours of the 
tedious night in sleep, we wrapped our¬ 
selves up in our cloaks, and ventured to lie 
down on some mattresses which had been 
placed for our accommodation. We soon 
repented of our rashness, for an army of 
fleas had already taken possession of our 
quarters, and then* envenomed attacks effec¬ 
tually prevented us from obtaining sleep. 

Capt. R-, however, seemed to be proof 

against the assaults of the enemy, either 
from a constitutional want of irritability or 
from a soldier’s life having accustomed him 
to the annoyance. 

After a very miserable night, by daylight 
we found ourselves becalmed, about thirty 
miles from Malta, and during the whole of 
that day, I believe, we did not advance a 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


199 


single mile. The Sicilian coast was in sight, 
and we had an occasional glimpse of Mount 
Etna, but a thick haze over the land made 
the view very indistinct. This delay in our 
voyage was very vexatious, but our captain 
and his men appeared perfectly happy, and 
resigned to their situation. Those who were 
not asleep below, found ample amusement 
in a pack of cards. They lay basking in 
the sun for hours, intent on their game; the 
loser instead of paying any money, received 
a certain number of blows on his nose with 
a card, which ridiculous punishment was 
given and received with a great deal of 
merriment and goodhumour. The crew re¬ 
ceived no regular wages, but were paid by a 
certain portion of the freight or passage- 
money. 

We had comforted ourselves during the 
day with thinking, that this tedious calm 


*200 


LETTERS FROM 


would not continue after sunset, but no 
breeze reached us till past midnight, and then 
it came from the northward, directly against 
us. We passed another most comfortless 
night, endeavouring to ascertain which was 
the most tolerable, the deck or the cabin; 
on the former we were pinched with the cold 
wind, and in the latter the source of annoy¬ 
ance need not again be particularly de¬ 
scribed. 

In the morning the breeze gradually died 
away again, or, as English sailors say, “ the 
sun burnt up the wind,” and we remained 
becalmed till after mid-day, when we had a 
light southerly breeze, which carried us, 
slowly towards Cape Passaro. On our way 
we passed a small turtle asleep on the water, 
but our people did not think it worth while 
to go in pursuit of it. In the afternoon we 
passed close to an island off Cape Passaro, 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


201 


on which was a large square tower or castle, 
and at midnight we were off Syracuse, when 
the wind gradually came round to north¬ 
east. At sunrise we had a fine view of 
Mount Etna, or “ Mon Gibello,” as our 
people called it, and surpassingly beautiful 
the old giant appeared, with his black cap 
and pure white robe, and all the lower part 
of him, with the land in the neighbourhood, 

concealed bv clouds and mists. The wind 
•/ 

was now directly contrary, and had raised so 
much sea, that our vessel was quite unable 
to beat to windward against it, and we con¬ 
tinued sailing backwards and forwards for 
some hours without being any nearer to our 
port. As we stood in towards the land, 
we had an indistinct view of Syracuse, or 
“ Serra-oo-sa ,” as our men called it. To¬ 
wards noon the wind moderated, and the 
sea became smoother, but we still made very 


202 


LETTERS FROM 


little progress to windward. In the after¬ 
noon our men lowered down the boat, and 
pulled in towards the shore, to meet a fisher¬ 
man, of whom they bought a huge long¬ 
tailed fish, like that which in some parts of 
England is called “ an old maid.” She was 
very disgusting in appearance, but when 
boiled, she proved to be much better tasted 
than we had expected, and we all made a 
hearty meal on her, for the stock of pro¬ 
visions we had brought from Malta was 
almost exhausted. 

We passed a fourth nearly sleepless night, 
during which we had light and variable 
winds, and at daylight we found ourselves 
still within a few miles of Syracuse. In the 
afternoon we were becalmed for some hours 
within a mile of the town, which has a very 
mean and shabby appearance when seen 
from the water. High in the air, over the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


203 


houses, we observed a number of square 
paper kites, which had no tails , and as they 
fled remarkably well and steadily, I con¬ 
cluded that they were balanced by weights 
at the lower corners. Late in the evening, 
as our vessel had drifted close to the rocky 
shore, and was unmanageable from want of 
wind, our people were obliged to tow her 
into the harbour of Syracuse. 

Being now quite tired of the San Pietro 
and of her accommodations , and thoroughly 
exhausted by want of sleep, we determined 
to remain a few days in this place, and to 
proceed to Messina by some other convey¬ 
ance. But the quarantine regulations would 
not allow us to land that evening. After a 
fifth miserably wearisome night, about nine 
in the morning, we went on shore with part 
of our luggage, which we rescued from the 
search of the custom-house officers by the 


204 


LETTERS FROM 


payment of half a dollar. We first pre¬ 
sented our passports at the proper office, 
and then proceeded to an hotel, where, after 
a thorough ablution and change of raiment, 
followed by a breakfast of coffee and beef¬ 
steaks, we found ourselves so refreshed, that 
instead of going immediately to bed, as we 
had proposed, we set out on a walk through 
the town. 

Modern Syracuse is a dull shabby place, 
indeed; it is melancholy to walk through its 
dirty narrow streets, and to remember its 
former magnificence. If historians are to 
be credited, it contained at one time one 
million two hundred thousand inhabitants 
within its walls, which were twenty-two miles 
in circumference, and it was defended by an 
army of one hundred thousand foot, ten 
thousand horse, and by a navy of five hun¬ 
dred ships. The modern town is built on 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


205 


the northern side of the harbour’s mouth, on 
a peninsula, now converted into an island by 
four canals or ditches, which are crossed by 
drawbridges. The streets are narrow, dirty, and 
without foot ways. With few exceptions, the 
houses are small and mean, and have sloping 
roofs, covered by tiles, which are of a dirty 
red colour, and are laid on in a very irregu¬ 
lar manner. The cathedral stands on the 
site of the ancient temple of Minerva, the 
beautiful fluted pillars of which are in very 
good preservation, and now support the roof 
of the modern building; part of the marble 
pavement is also remaining. There is a 
public museum in the town, containing a 
good collection of Syracusan antiquities, 
among the most esteemed of which are 
statues of Venus and of Esculapius, the 
former without a head. I can see little to 
admire in these battered mutilated trunks, 


206 


LETTERS FROM 


but our conductor assured us, that the Venus 
was considered to be equal in beauty to the 
Venus di Medici. In the building which 
contains the museum, there is also a library. 

The harbour of Syracuse is a very fine 
sheet of water, about two miles in length, and 
one in width. On the western side it is 
bordered by a low flat country, at some sea¬ 
sons swampy and unhealthy, and the view in 
that direction is bounded by a range of 
barren, rocky hills. As the entrance is very 
narrow, this must be a safe harbour at all 
times, but I do not know whether there be 
sufficient depth of water for large ships. 

Having seen enough of the beauties of 
modern Syracuse, we now accepted the 
services of a guide, and were conducted 
out of the town, passing over the four 
drawbridges which connect the island 
with the main land. We first inspected 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


207 


the remains of some marble pillars which 
formed part of the entrance to a temple of 
Ceres and Proserpine, and then proceeded 
to an amphitheatre, near which were the dens 
and dungeons in which were confined the 
wild beasts and the miserable victims con¬ 
demned to be devoured by them. The walls 
of these dens were nearly covered by the 
true maiden-hair growing in most beautiful 
profusion. We were next shown the remains 
of Dyonisius’s palace, which consisted of an 
extensive excavation like a quarry, with a 
tower-like piece of rock in the centre, on which 
were some ruined walls. Near this place were 
some underground baths, or reservoirs for 
water. Here were a quantity of bones, said tc> be 
those of some of the unfortunate Frenchmen 
killed at the massacre of the Sicilian vespers. 
I brought home with me part of a skull, 
remarkable for its extraordinary thickness. 


208 


LETTERS FROM 


On our return we went on board the San 
Pietro to pay the captain for our passage, 
and to bring on shore the remainder of our 
luggage, which we were allowed to do without 
its being subjected to any examination, on 
payment of another half-dollar. 

Beautifully clean and most comfortable 
beds offered irresistible attractions to weary 
voyagers, and we retired to rest soon after 
dark. Those only who have passed many 
successive nights in cold and misery and 
wakefulness, can fully appreciate the blessing 
of sound and uninterrupted repose. My last 
moments of consciousness that evening were 
employed in endeavouring to decide which 
would be attended with the most suffering, 
death occasioned by the want of food , or of 
that equally necessary restorative, sleep. 

In the morning we set off on an expedi¬ 
tion to visit other antiquities in the neigh- 


t 


MALTA AND SICILY. 207 

bourhood. The day was delightfully fine 
and bright, but not unpleasantly warm. 

Capt. R- was mounted on a mule, and 

William and myself on horses: all three 
were very shabby, rough-coated animals, but 
they proved to be extremely sure-footed; 
and had they not been well accustomed to 
such steep and rugged paths as we travelled 
over on this day’s excursion, there can 
be no doubt that some terrible downfalls 
would have occurred. 

I feel myself entirely incompetent to de¬ 
scribe all the old walls and heaps of moss- 
covered stones we visited in the course of 
this day’s ride. But to me the most inte¬ 
resting of all the remains of ancient Syracuse, 
is the curious cavern called “ Dionysius’s 
7 jar,” which it is said that tyrant caused to 
be made in the form of the interior of the 
human ear; and we are told, that by con- 


p 



208 


LETTERS FROM 


fining his prisoners in it he was enabled to 
overhear their conversation, and to detect 
conspiracies against his fife. It does not 
appeal* to bear the smallest resemblance to 
any part of the human ear; therefore, if it 
were really constructed for the above-men¬ 
tioned purpose, (and it is difficult to imagine 
any other to which it could have been ap¬ 
plied,) it is much more probable that it re¬ 
ceived its name because the tyrant used it 
as an artificial ear, or an apparatus for hear¬ 
ing sounds very distinctly. 

It will be difficult to form an idea of this 
curious excavation from a description only. 
It is a cavern in the form of a pointed 
arch, the sides of which are of unequal cur¬ 
vature, so that a perpendicular from the apex 
would not fall in the middle of the base line 
of the arch. The height at the entrance, 
which is in the face of a perpendicular cliff, 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


209 


is ninety feet, according to our guide’s state¬ 
ment ; but I believe it is considerably less, 
and it diminishes gradually towards the ex¬ 
tremity. The extent of the cavern is pro¬ 
bably about two hundred feet, but I very 
foolishly omitted to take any measurement 
of its dimensions at the time. The sides 
are adorned of the true maiden-hair. In 
the face of the rock, a little on one 
side of the top of the arch, is a small 
recess, which is supposed to have been the 
listening place where Dionysius was sta¬ 
tioned to overhear the discourse of his cap¬ 
tives, who were confined at the further end of 
the cavern. The recess communicates with 
the top of the cavern by means of a small 
passage. 

Upon inquiring whether there was any way 
of ascending to the listening place, some 
men living in the neighbourhood immediately 


210 


LETTERS FROM 


produced a rope, which they passed through 
a pulley attached to an iron-bar driven into 
the ground at the top of the rock. They 
then fastened an old chair to the rope, and 
informed us that all was ready. Though 
the apparatus did not appear very strong, we 
were assured that it was perfectly safe, and 

Capt. R- seated himself in the chair, 

but he had not ascended many yards before 
he complained of giddiness, and begged 
to be lowered down again. I therefore 
took his place, and was soon hoisted up 
and safely landed in the little recess. My 
companions went to the further end of the 
cave, where there are several holes, which 
appeal’ to have been the receptacles of rings 
or staples to which the prisoners were 
chained. I was now directed to put my 
head into the little passage communicating 
with the cavern, when I found that any sen- 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


211 


tence spoken by the prisoners in their usual 
tone was distinctly audible. I could also 
hear the faint sound made by tearing a very 
small piece of writing-paper. 

From this experiment, which perhaps has 
been tried by others who have visited this 
singular cavern, it appears that it might have 
been used by Dionysius as a place for over¬ 
hearing conversation, though the same end 
might have been attained by a much less 
complicated and expensive apparatus. It 
was probably a whim of the moment, and it 
is just such a childish design as would be 
likely to be conceived in the brain of a 
capricious tyrant. We may conclude that 
he chained his prisoners at such a distance 
from each other, that they could not converse 
in a whisper, so that there would be no dan¬ 
ger of his losing a single word of their com¬ 
munications. But I suppose that the eaves- 


21*2 


LETTERS FROM 


dropping monarch had a more convenient 
way of mounting to his station than by means 
of a rope and a chair, though we could dis¬ 
cover no remains of any steps either from the 
top or from the bottom of the rock. The whole 
of the cavern is evidently of artificial forma¬ 
tion. 

While we were off the town of Syracuse in 
the San Pietro, the captain gave us a curious 
version of the story connected with this 
“Ear.” He said that Dionysius confined 
there such persons as he imagined had ac¬ 
cused him of being a bad Christian , and if 
by listening to their conversation his suspi¬ 
cions were confirmed, he sentenced the 
calumniators to be shot. 

I will now briefly mention some other an¬ 
tiquities we visited in the course of this 
morning’s excursion. We were shown the 
remains of the walls of the ancient city, but 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


213 


they were such complete ruins, and were so 
overgrown with grass and herbage, that it 
required a close examination to convince us 
that these heaps of stones had ever been 
used for the purposes of building. We passed 
over part of a road, in which the ruts 
made by the passing of carriages perhaps 
two thousand years ago, were deeply worn 
into the solid rock; and we ascended the 
ruins of a castle, from the top of which we 
enjoyed a most enchanting view of the sea, 
and of the coast from Syracuse beyond 
Catania, with old Etna towering up into the 
heavens in the back-ground. We visited 
several excavations or Latomias, which are 
supposed to have been quarries originally, 
and afterwards used for prisons; an under¬ 
ground aqueduct, which now answers the 
purpose of conveying water to a mill, and 
the remains of a most magnificent theatre, 


214 


LETTERS FROM 


which it has been calculated is large enough 
to have accommodated forty thousand specta¬ 
tors. We next proceeded to some very exten¬ 
sive catacombs, through which we were piloted 
by a hermit, who had taken up his abode in 
a cell at the entrance, and without his 
guidance we should soon have lost our way 
in these dismal winding passages. They are 
formed in the solid rock, and have niches in 
the sides for the reception of bodies, but 
these have long been removed. Our her¬ 
mit endeavoured to make us believe that 
these caverns extended as far as Catania, 
about fortv miles ! Not far from the cata- 
combs is a tomb, which is shown as that of 
Archimedes; but there is some reason to 
doubt whether this be really the place where 
that celebrated mathematician and military 
engineer was interred. 

We finished our day’s excursion by paying 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


215 


a visit to a Capuchin convent near the sea¬ 
side. We were politely received by a very 

handsome young monk, who took care to 

« 

inform us before we parted, that the Duke of 
Devonshire, on a late visit to Syracuse, had 
exchanged portraits with him. Close to the 
convent is a very large Latomia, from which 
it is supposed that a great part of the stone 
used in building ancient Syracuse was pro¬ 
cured. This quarry has been converted by 

« 

the monks into a very beautiful garden, 
chiefly for orange and lemon-trees; and 

here, for the first time in our lives, we had 

\ 

the plea,sure of gathering oranges from the 
tree. We also tasted a very pleasant fruit 
called a sweet lemon. It was larger than the 
common lemon, and the eatable part was the 
inner white rind, which was half-an-inch or 
more in thickness, and like an apple in con¬ 
sistence, but not quite so juicy. The inte- 


216 


LETTERS FROM 


rior was as acid as the pulp of a common 
lemon. 

After we had spent an hour very pleasantly 
in this curious garden, our guide invited us 
into his convent, and showed us the burying- 
place of the monks. It was a large vault 
under the church, lighted by windows from 
above. On entering the monk gave us each 
a pinch of snuff, I suppose for the purpose of 
correcting any bad smell, but my nose could 
detect nothing very offensive. But the 
place was full of flies, both alive and dead. 
The bodies are first subjected to a drying 
and preservative process, I believe by being 
kept in lime for some months, after which 
they are set upright in open recesses in the 
walls, and an assemblage of ghastly grinning 
old fellows they are. One of these mummies 
had been in the vault one hundred and 
thirty years, and another only six months; 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


‘217 


but they differed but little from each other 
in appearance, though the latter, on a very 
close approach, had still a slight animal 
odour hanging about him. 

Our guide next conducted us to his cell, 
which though poor and very small, was clean 
and comfortable. Here he showed us a 
badly executed portrait of the Duke of 
Devonshire, and requested us to enter our 
names in a book he kept for that purpose. 
Near this convent was found the headless 
statue of Venus, now in the museum at 
Syracuse. 

A great part of the country we passed over 
in this ride was rocky and uncultivated; 
and though much more pleasant in its ap¬ 
pearance than any part of Malta, was by no 
means productive in natural curiosities. We 
found a fine species of sage, a beautiful red 
anemone, a dwarf aspliodelus, and a prickly 


218 


LETTERS FROM 


nightshade, with blue flowers and yellow 
berries as large as an Orlean plum. The 
latter plant was a strong branching shrub, 
four or five feet in height. We saw many 
swallow-tailed butterflies, and one or two re¬ 
sembling our brimstone-butterfly, but dis¬ 
tant. Green lizards were very abundant, 
and appeared rather larger than those of 
Malta. We saw one running up the wall of 
a house with a large white butterfly in his 
mouth. 

We remained at Syracuse three days, but 
we added very little to our collections there, 
as we did not think it worth while to unpack 
all our apparatus for so short a time. At a 
later season of the year I think it would be a 

good station for a naturalist. We collected 

/ 

a few sea-shells, and on the walls of the 
hotel I found two or three specimens of a 
pretty little helix, like h. melitensis , but 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


219 


smaller, and of a flatter form. The marks 
are also more regular and distinct. 

We crossed the harbour to procure some 
of the reed, called the papyrus, which the 
ancient Egyptians used as a substitute for 
paper. On the other side we entered a 
narrow muddy river, and ascended it for a 
mile or two, not without some difficulty, 
from the strength of the current, and the 
banks were so overgrown with tall canes, 
that it was impossible to tow the boat from 
the shore. We found abundance of the 
papyrus growing in large patches close to 
the river. The stems of this most beautiful 
plant are eight or ten feet in height, and more 
than two inches in thickness at the root, 
tapering gradually, without knot or blemish, 
to the top, where an infinite number of fine 
branches, or filaments, spring out from a 
centre, forming a globular head two or three 


220 


LETTERS FROM 


feet in diameter. The inside of the stem of 
the papyrus consists of a white pithy sub¬ 
stance, which may very easily be split into 
thin sheets, and the Egyptians had the ait of 
uniting these tegether, so that the joinings 
were nearly invisible ; in this manner they 
formed sheets of large size. I have pressed 
some of the pith between blotting-paper till 
dry, and I find that without any further 
preparation it resembles paper more than 
any other unmanufactured substance I have 
ever seen. It is flexible, tough, and strong, 
has a tolerably smooth surface, and when 
written upon with a common pen, the ink 
does not run. 

Not far from the banks of the river, bv 
which the papyrus grows, are two fluted 
pillars, about six feet in diameter, and forty 
or fifty yards from each other. They are 
the only remains of a once magnificent tem¬ 
ple of Jupiter. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


221 


We were amused at the costume of some 
of the men we met near the town. Their 
dress consisted of a short jacket, black 
plush breeches, open at the knee, high black 
boots, and a very clean white cotton night¬ 
cap. 

We left Syracuse on Wednesday, 12th 
March, in a speronara which we had en¬ 
gaged to take us to Catania. Speronaras are 
much used in these seas, chiefly for coasting, 
but they are considered very safe boats, and 
often perform long voyages. Our boat, 
which was a small one of the kind, was 
about thirty feet in length ; she was sharp at 
both ends, and had a deck formed of move- 
able planks, and a wooden covering, like the 
tilt of a wagon, abaft, in the place of a cabin. 
We had two young Italian painters for 
fellow-passengers, one of whom could speak 
English, but, alas! the motion of the boat 


• 22*2 


LETTERS FROM 


very soon put a stop to his conversation. 
Poor fellow ! he reminded me of Byron’s 

a Licentiate Pedrillo, 

Who several languages did understand, 

But now lay sick and speechless on his pillow.” 

As the wind was contrary and very light, 
we were obliged to row for two or three 
hours, but about noon a fine south-easterly 
breeze sprang up, and enabled us to make 
use of our sails. These were a jib, a low 
sprit-mainsail, and a lateen mizen. We 
kept near to the shore as far as a point of 
land called San Croce, but there was nothing 
very interesting or beautiful in the view. 
Near this point lies the town of Augusta, 
(pronounced by our men “ Ow-oos-ta .”) 
After leaving Point San Croce, our course 
lay at too great a distance from the land for 
us to distinguish more than the bare out¬ 
line, and the atmosphere was so thick and 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


*223 

% 

hazy, that Mount Etna, the grand object of 
interest, was entirely obscured nearly the 
whole of the day. In clear weather the 
view of Catania from the sea must be ex¬ 
ceedingly beautiful; the land appearing from 
a distance to be thickly wooded, and rising 
gradually from the shore to the foot of the 
mountain. 

By the help of sails and oars we reached 
our port about five o’clock; had we arrived 
after sunset, our boatmen said we should 
have been obliged to have remained on 
board all night. We went through the usual 
ceremonies with the custom-house people, and 
then proceeded to the Corona, which we had 
been informed was one of the principal inns, 
but it had rather a shabby appearance. How¬ 
ever, the proprietor, Abbate, might have safely 
followed the example of the landlord of a mise¬ 
rable road-side ale-house in the west of Eng- 


Q 


‘ 2*24 


LETTERS FROM 


land, who is said to have added to his sign this 
notification, “ Better accommodations within 
than might be expected from outward ap¬ 
pearances.” The provisions at the Corona 
were excellent. Abbate keeps a book in 
which travellers insert their names, with 
remarks on the treatment they have received, 
and some persons have amused themselves 
by adding a great deal of absurd nonsense 
besides. We were glad to find that the 
waiter of this hotel could speak English. 
He was a good-tempered, communicative fel¬ 
low, and he informed us, that he was by 
birth a Spaniard, but had spent some years 
in England as a workman in a pottery. 

We remained at Catania several davs 

4 / 

waiting for clear weather, for we wished to 
ascend Mount Etna as far as the termina¬ 
tion of the woody region, or “ Bosco,” as it 
is called; at this time of the year, I believe, 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


225 


it is quite impossible to reach the summit 
on account of the snow. During the greater 
part of our stay, the weather was so wet 
and cold that we had not much opportunity 
of exploring the neighbourhood. There was no 
fireplace or stove of any kind in our rooms, 
for the Sicilians are not yet sufficiently 
enlightened to have discovered that the 
usual method of producing warmth is pre¬ 
ferable to the unwholesome brazier of burn¬ 
ing charcoal which they make use of in cold 
weather. While we were confined to the 
house by the rain, we were, however, com¬ 
pelled to adopt this method of keeping our¬ 
selves warm, but it is a poor substitute for 
the cheerful blaze of an English fireside. 
The gas from the charcoal causes head¬ 
ache and a feeling of oppression, and in a 
small room the consequences would no 
doubt be much more serious. To correct 


226 


LETTERS FROM 


the unpleasant effluvia, pieces of lemon are 
sometimes laid on the burning charcoal. 
These diffuse an agreeable odour, but can 
produce no other good effect. 

Our unexpected visit to Syracuse had so 
exhaused our finances, that we were obliged 
to apply to Mr. Rose, the English consul, 
for a supply of money, which he very kindly 
granted us, on our showing him a letter of 

credit I had received from Mr. R-, at 

Malta, to a merchant at Messina. 

I believe that Catania is considered to be 
a beautiful city, and it certainly contains 
some fine buildings. To me it appeared an 
exceedingly dull place, but my opinion 
might have been influenced by the gloomy 
weather. But the view of Etna from this 
city is, indeed, surpassingly beautiful, and it 
is an object I should never be weary of 
gazing upon. It presented an unusually 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


2*27 


grand appearance on the evening of the day 
after our arrival at Catania. Constant driz¬ 
zling rain had been falling till late in the 
afternoon, when the clouds, which had en¬ 
tirely concealed the mountain from our sight, 
suddenly cleared off, and we beheld it 
covered to the base with a coat of fresh 
fallen snow, the dazzling whiteness of which 
was increased by the rays of the setting 
sun, and by the strong contrast of dark 
clouds in the background. 

We were constantly reminded that we 
were in the neighbourhood of a volcano, 
even when it was concealed from our view, 
for many of the houses in Catania are built 
of lava, and the pavement is chiefly com¬ 
posed of the same material. The two prin¬ 
cipal streets, which are of great length, cross 
each other at right-angles, and from these 
branch out many other streets and lanes, 


2*28 


LETTERS FROM 


most of which are narrow and dirty. In 
some of the streets are moveable iron 
bridges for the purpose of crossing the tor¬ 
rent which runs down the middle in rainy 
weather. In an open space in front of the 
cathedral, there is an excellent figure of an 
elephant, formed of black lava, with tusks of 
white marble, and supporting on his back an 
ancient Egyptian pillar, covered with hiero¬ 
glyphics ; underneath there is a fountain. 
There appears to be but little trade in the 
place; indeed, the harbour is not large 
enough to contain many vessels, for the only 
shelter is a small pier built of large blocks 
of lava. Catania could once boast of a 
beautiful natural pier, formed by a torrent of 
lava, which extended a long way into the 
sea, but this was quite destroyed by the 
eruption of 1669. 

We visited several museums, one of which 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


229 


is considered to be a fine collection of 
broken bits of marble and mutilated statues, 
and it also contains a great number of very 
pretty little ancient figures in bronze; some 
Turkish fire-arms, inlaid with ivory; some 
ancient Sicilian garments, a few shells, 
insects, minerals, &c. 

Should I ever become a monk I will join 
the order of Benedictines, and endeavour to 
obtain admission into their convent at Ca¬ 
tania, where these gentlemen have a very 
handsome establishment indeed. Their con¬ 
vent is built in the form of a hollow square, 
and formerly contained seven hundred 
monks, but at present their number is only 
about two hundred. The community is 
very rich, and we were told that the monks 
sometimes boast that they can travel on 
their own land as far as Messina, a distance 
of sixty or seventy miles. We were very 


230 


LETTERS FROM 


politely received at the convent, and were 
even admitted into the private apartments oi 
the superior, but we did not see that dig¬ 
nitary. He has several large rooms, hand¬ 
somely furnished, and certainly in this part 
of the establishment there was no appearance 
of any monastic discipline or mortification 
of the flesh. In the church we were shown 
a fine painting, which our attendant informed 
us was the work of Sir Thomas Lawrence, 
and that the subject was Pope Gregory XII. 
sending the monk Augustine on a mission to 
the British. This painting is protected by 
a curtain, and when our conductor was pre¬ 
paring to draw it aside, he requested us to 
retire to the other side of the church for a 
short time, after which we were allowed to 
approach as near as we pleased. We could 
not conceive the motive for this extraor- 
dinary precaution, but we have since been in- 


v? 

MALTA AND SICILY. *231 

formed, (whether correctly or not I cannot 
say,) that it is considered improper that the 
painting when first uncovered should be ex¬ 
posed to the gaze of heretic eyes before it 
has been looked upon, and perhaps adored, 
by a good Catholic. 

We spent some time in the convent gar¬ 
den. It is a large old-fashioned place, sur¬ 
rounded by beds of barren lava. As we were 
coming away, the gardener requested each 
of us to accept a pretty little nosegay of 
flowers. After carrying mine through the 
streets till I was. tired of it, I offered it to a 
girl who was sitting at an open window knitting, 
and very much astonished the young lady ap¬ 
peared. But she accepted the gift, and 
muttered some words, which I received as 
thanks. 

On returning to the hotel we found in wait¬ 
ing for us several men who had for sale little 


232 


LETTERS FROM 


boxes formed of lava, and some beautiful 
necklaces, and other ornaments of amber, 
which substance is found in the neighbour¬ 
hood. They asked an extravagant price for 
these articles, but at length they appeared 
perfectly satisfied with less than half the sum 
originally demanded. 

While my companions were occupied in 
examining the museum of the Benedictines, 
which is open only at certain horns, I set 
out on a ramble in the neighbourhood, 
hoping to find some beautiful plants, or 
shells, or insects, which would afford me 
more pleasure than a sight of all the broken 
pieces of marble and mutilated statues in the 
world. In a small stream on the outskirts 
of the town, I soon discovered some very 
interesting specimens of the animal king¬ 
dom, differing considerably in their habits 
from any of the same species I had before 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


233 


seen. These were a number of women and 
young girls standing, bare-legged, nearly up 
to their knees in the water, employed in 
washing clothes, which they rubbed with 
great vehemence on some large flat stones on 
the bank, giving by this rough treatment no 
small encouragement to the linen and cotton 
trades. I very unintentionally gave offence 
by stopping to contemplate this amusing 
group. One of the party addressed me in 
a manner which was evidently intended to 
convey a reproof; and though I was not 
sufficiently acquainted with the language to 
understand the words she used, the expres¬ 
sion of her face and the tone of her voice 
said as plainly as possible, “ Go along about 
your business, you impertinent fellow, do ! ” 

I now bent my course towards the sea¬ 
shore, to the southward of the town, climb¬ 
ing over a very nigged bed of lava, part of 


234 


LETTERS FROM 


the fiery deluge which burst forth from the 
side of the mountain during the terrible 
eruption of 1669. It lies in confused masses 
heaped on each other, and in some places 
has much the appearance of natural rocks, 
while in others it retains the marks of having 
once been in a fluid state. The part I 
crossed, which appeared to be about a mile in 
width, was a black barren w'aste, with scarcely 
any trace of vegetation on its surface, except 
here and there a few lichens. 

Soon after passing the lava, I waded 
through a shallow stream, and arrived at a 
fine wide sandy beach, which extended as 
far as the eye could reach to the southward, 
and was bounded by a line of barren sand¬ 
hills. Here was a party of twenty or thirty 
fishermen employed in hauling in a very 
long seine, but their labours were not re¬ 
warded with much success, for it contained 


MALTA AND SICILV. 


235 


only about a dozen fish, which were not un¬ 
like our mackerel. When the bag of the net 
approached the shore, two of the men 
stripped themselves and swam into the sea, 
to prevent the fish from escaping over the 
sides. One of these men had several amulets 
or charms, like those mentioned in a former 
letter, suspended round his neck, and as they 
are considered a protection against dangers 
of all kinds, I was surprised to observe that 
he took them off and left them with his 
clothes on the beach. But it appeared that 
he had more confidence in his own ex¬ 
traordinary powers of swimming than in his 
amulets. 

Finding the beach very unproductive in 
shells, I now proceeded to search among the 
sand-hills for insects, knowing that in England 
such situations generally abound with them, 
especially with those of the order coleoptera. 


236 


LETTERS FROM 


I found very few that were valuable, but the 
coldness of the weather may account for this 
scarcity. On my return homewards I passed 
through some orchards and low swampy fields, 
surrounded by hedges of prickly-pear bushes 
and American aloes intermixed, which formed 
a most formidable barrier, absolutely impene¬ 
trable, except by a man clad in armour. I 
found several new plants in blossom, among 
which were an orobanche with blue flowers, 
a beautiful scarlet fumitory, a species of 
broom, the common blue lupine of our gar¬ 
dens, and a vetch, with the flower green and 
brown, with several others, the names of 
which I had no means of ascertaining. 

In the afternoon we observed that the 
crater of Etna, for the first time since we had 
been at Catania, was emitting smoke of a 
reddish black colour. 

The morning of the day on which we set 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


•237 


out on our expedition to the mountain was 
fine and clear, but very cold. We were ac¬ 
companied by four travellers, an English¬ 
man, an Irishman, a Scotchman, and an 
Italian, who were staying at the hotel, and 
we had our landlord Abbate for a guide. 
We were all mounted on shabby horses and 
mules. We first followed the high road to 
Messina for a mile or two, and then turned 
off through very rough narrow lanes to the 
miserable little town or village of Nicolosi, 
which is about ten miles from Catania. 
Close to the road was the crater of an extinct 
volcano. We threw some large stones into 
it, and could hear them rattling down for many 
seconds afterwards. Though the country 
around Catania appears green and pleasant 
from a distance, upon a closer view it has 
but few attractions, for it is composed en¬ 
tirely of lava, either in a decomposed or 


2. If 0 

--3SS 


LETTERS FROM 


a solid state, and the roads, the walls, and 
the soil are all of the same dingy black 
colour. And at this early season the vineyards 
do not add to the beauty of the prospect. 
Nothing is visible but leafless stunted vine- 
stumps, planted at about three feet from 
each other, and tied to short upright sup¬ 
porters of wood or cane. The most common 
tree in the neighbourhood is the olive ; but 
though this is an evergreen, it is not very 
ornamental, for the foliage is of a dull melan¬ 
choly tint. “ The land of the olive and 
vine,” which would doubtless be a goodly 
and a pleasant land in summer, is almost as 
desolate in winter as “ a land of briars and 
thorns.” We should have deferred our visit 
to Sicily till May or June : we might then 
have ascended to the top of the mountain, a 
pleasure which alone would have amply repaid 
us for the miseries of our voyage in the San 



MALTA AND SICILY. 


241 


Pietro, and we should have made many 
valuable additions to our collections. We 
have been particularly unfortunate in the 
weather, which has been much more in¬ 
clement than is usually the case at this time 
of the year. 

Beyond Nicolosi our road lay for some 
distance over a desolate plain of fine black 
cinders, in which a very few stunted broom- 
bushes were the oidy plants that could find 
nourishment, and soon after we entered the 
woody district or Bosco, a beautiful forest, 
consisting chiefly of low oak-trees, the stems 
of some of which were three feet or more in 
diameter. The ground was here thickly 
covered with snow, and the air was intensely 
cold. The woody district forms a belt round 
the mountain sixty or seventy miles in cir¬ 
cumference, and seven or eight in width, and 
is succeeded by the barren region, from the 


242 


LETTERS FROM 


commencement of which to the summit is 
said to be about seven miles more. But we 
had not penetrated the Bosco more than two 
miles, when the snow began to fall thickly 
around us; and as in this state of the at¬ 
mosphere the view of the surrounding coun¬ 
try would have been entirely obscured, by the 
advice of Abbate we determined on return¬ 
ing. Though we had provided ourselves 
with warm clothing, some of us were so 
benumbed bv the cold, that we were obliged 
to dismount and walk, in order to restore 
sensation to our frozen limbs. The fear of 
a fall was another very sufficient reason for 
dismounting, for the path was exceedingly 
steep and rugged, and the snow made it 
still more dangerous. Some of our party, 
however, had full confidence in the sure feet 
and sagacity of their mules, and rode down 
in safety. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


243 


Before reaching Nicolosi we turned off to 
the right to Monte Rosso, across a plain 
of black sand or ashes, which were thrown 
out during the eruption of 1669, covering a 
space of fifteen square miles, and burying 
the fields and vineyards many feet deep. 
These ashes, and the torrent of lava which 
destroyed Catania, were discharged from the 
side of the mountain, and the immense heap 
of cinders around this new crater is now 
called Monte Rosso, or the Red Mountain. 
We found its sides so steep, and the cinders 
so fine and yielding, that we all dismounted 
and clambered up to the summit on foot, 
though our guide assured us that our mules 
woidd carry us up quite easily and safely. 
Though the atmosphere was still rather misty, 
the snow had ceased, and we had a beautiful 
view of the coast of Sicily as far as Cape 
Passaro, and of the mountains of Calabria in 


244 


LETTEltS FPOM 


Italy. Our guide pointed out to us the 
track of the lava of 1669. In its course are 
several hillocks, or islands, which being above 
the reach of the torrent, escaped the general 
destruction, and still retain their original ver¬ 
dure. The crater of Monte Rosso is now 
entirely filled up with ashes. 

After we had enjoyed for some time the 
beautiful, but very singular view around us, 
we descended the hill on the other side. It 
was fortunate for one of our party that he 
had dismounted, for when towards the bot¬ 
tom, his horse lost his footing, and rolling 
over and over, he very quickly finished the 
descent in that manner. He did not receive 
the smallest injury. 

We remained an hour to refresh ourselves 
and our beasts at a little inn at Nicolosi, 
where we were again requested to comply 
with the ridiculous custom of entering our 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


245 


names in a book. It was late in the evening 
before we reached Catania. We did not ride 
into the town in the good order in which we 
started in the morning, for some of our party 
were several miles in advance of the others, 
who came straggling in singly, according to 
the condition of their wearied animals. 
Poor creatures ! they had had a hard day’s 
work indeed. 

The following short account of the devas 
tations occasioned by some eruptions of 
Mount Etna, I have abridged from several 
authors, who have described these outpour¬ 
ings of the fiery indignation of heaven upon 
the children of men. The last considerable 
eruption was in the year 1706, but it was not 
nearly so destructive as that of 1669. In 
that year the mountain had been giving 
warning for several months, that some ter¬ 
rible convulsion was about to take place. 


*246 


LETTERS FROM 


The inhabitants of the island had been 
alarmed by dreadful subterraneous noises, 
while the crater of the mountain had been 
continually disgorging columns of fire and 
smoke, and projecting red hot masses of 
rock, some of which measured fifteen feet in 
diameter, to the distance of more than a 
mile. During these internal struggles, the 
island trembled from one end to the other. 
At length a torrent of lava burst forth from 
the side of the mountain, (from the spot 
where Monte Rosso now stands,) and pouring- 
down with resistless fury, it soon reached the 
ill-fated city of Catania, a great part of which 
it overwhelmed. This torrent is said to have 
covered a space fourteen miles in length, 
nearly four in breadth, and of such a thick¬ 
ness, that in some places it retained a sen¬ 
sible warmth for eight years afterwards. In 
its progress it utterly destroyed the houses 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


247 


and property of thirty thousand persons. 
Our friends the Benedictines had a very 
narrow escape, which I suppose they attri¬ 
buted to the interposition of their patron St. 
Nicholas, for the lava passed within five 
yards of their convent, when it turned off’ in 
another direction, and at length finished its 
destructive course by pouring into the sea. 
It is impossible to imagine anything more 
terrible than this encounter. A river of red 
hot lava, several miles in width, and many 
yards in depth, suddenly opposed in its 
course by the sea! Authors who had an 
opportunity of witnessing this conflict inform 
us, that the noise was infinitely louder than 
the loudest thunder; that the air was dark¬ 
ened by clouds of steam and sulphurous 
vapours, that the sea was rendered muddy 
for months, and that all the fish on the coast 
were destroyed. 


•248 


LETTERS FROM 


We may form some idea of the prodigious 
quantity of matter which this mountain has 
disgorged, when we read that it has been 
calculated that the lava, ashes, and other 
bodies thrown out in 1669 amounted to four 
hundred and thirty-five millions of cubic 
yards, and that in former eruptions the lava 
alone covered a space thirty miles in 
length, and fifteen in breadth. The whole 
of the coast from Catania to the distance 
of twenty miles or more to the northward, 
consists entirely of rocks of lava thrown out 
at various times, and in many places the 
torrent has encroached upon the ancient 
boundary of the sea, which has been driven 
back for several miles. During an eruption 
in 1329, it is said that the ashes were earned 
as far as Malta. 

Though Catania is situated at the distance 
of about twenty miles from the crater of 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


249 


Etna, it has been nearly destroyed by erup¬ 
tions and earthquakes more than once, and 
after such repeated and dreadful disasters, 
we cannot but wonder at the infatuation o? 
the inhabitants in rebuilding the city in the 
same situation, which appears to possess no 
advantage over other parts of the coast, as 
it has no natural harbour. In the year 
121 b.c., it was injured to such an extent, 
that the Romans excused the inhabitants 
from paying tribute for ten years, to enable 
them to recover from their losses; and in 
1169, it was nearly destroyed by an earth¬ 
quake, when fifteen thousand persons 
perished. But the most terrible catas¬ 
trophe of this kind was in the year 1693, 
when the city was reduced to a heap of 
ruins, and eighteen thousand persons were 
buried beneath its walls. Catania also suf¬ 
fered greatly in 1783, by the earthquake 
which destroved Messina. 


250 


LETTERS FROM 


But, though Mount Etna has been the 
cause of so much misery to the inhabitants 
in its neighbourhood, they derive great be¬ 
nefits from it also, for the forests which 
cover its sides furnish them with an 
abundant supply of wood and charcoal, and 
from the higher regions are procured snow 
and ice, which, during the great heat of 
summer, are ranked among the necessaries 
of life in this island. It is even said that 
the Bishop of Catania formerly derived a 
great part of his revenue from the sale of 
ice, which is exported to Italy and to Malta. 

Mount Etna is between ten and eleven 
thousand feet, or, as nearly as possible, two 
miles in height. When viewed from Catania, 
its apparent height is much increased by 
there being no very high land near it. 

We left Catania for Messina in a shabby 
open carriage, which we had hired for the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


251 


journey. It was drawn by three mules 
abreast, and a boy was stationed behind to 
take care of our luggage. This was slung 
under the body of the carriage, in a strong 
net made of rope, and as it almost touched 
the ground, our heavy boxes were very useful 
as ballast for the ricketty vehicle. The 
roads were much better than we had ex¬ 
pected to find them, but we experienced 
jolting enough to make us feel great anxiety 
for the safety of our shells, and bottles of 
animals preserved in spirits; however, they 
have escaped with but little injury. 

For upwards of twenty miles our road lay 
over lava, but of so old a date that it has 
now become a fertile soil, covered with vine¬ 
yards and olive plantations. This change is 
brought about both by the slow decomposi¬ 
tion of the lava itself, and by the formation 
of vegetable earth, from the decay first ol 


252 


LETTERS FROM 


lichens, and afterwards of larger plants, 
which take root on its surface. The process 
is always very slow, but some lavas are de¬ 
composed in a much shorter time than 
others. We are informed by a Sicilian 
writer, that a torrent, which Diodorus men¬ 
tions as having been thrown out nearly two 
thousand years ago, is still only partially de¬ 
composed, and it is certain that in a very 
much shorter time than this the lava of some 
eruptions has been converted into a fruitful 
soil. 

We stopped a short time at the town of 
Aci Reale. Many of the people here ap¬ 
peared to be in a deplorable state of poverty, 
and our carriage was surrounded by a com¬ 
pany of half-starved, and more than half- 
naked children, forming a most affecting 
picture of utter destitution and misery. 

Our road continued over the lava till 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


‘253 


within a few miles of Giardini, where we 
remained for the night. It is a small, poor 
town or village, but very pleasantly situated 
close to the sea, commanding a fine view 
of the opposite coast of Calabria, and 
had we not been anxious to reach Messina 
as soon as possible, we should have been 
glad to have spent a few days there. We 
had been informed at Catania, that the best 
accommodations in the place were to be 
found in the house of a priest, who was in 
the habit of lodging travellers. However, 
our driver, contrary to the orders he had 
received, thought proper to take us to a 
little inn, where we soon discovered our 
mistake; but as the house appeared very 
clean, and the people decent and civil, we 
determined not to change our quarters. 
But while we were seated at supper, an 
emissary from the priest, who it appears had 


254 


LETTERS FROM 


expected our arrival, came into the house in 
a violent passion, threatening vengeance on 
our host, and on every member of his family, 
who, in return, made no scruple of abusing 
both priest and servant in terms that showed 
no great reverence for their pastor. Of 
course, we took no part in the fray, which 
ended as conflicts of this kind generally do 
where about a dozen tongues are opposed to 
one, in the weaker party being at length 
overpowered and compelled to quit the field. 
We were most comfortably entertained at 
this little inn, and were agreeably surprised 
to find, that the beds, besides being clean 
and dry, were entirely free from Jleas. 

In the morning we sent the carriage on to 
meet us on the road, while we ascended the 
hill above Giardini to Taormina to visit the 
remains of a very large theatre. As we 
climbed the steep path, we found several 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


255 


new plants in blossom, and we were struck 
with the size and beauty of some of the 
spurges, which were four feet or more in 
height, with strong woody stems and spread¬ 
ing branches, appearing like oak-trees in 
miniature. We found two sorts of antirrhi¬ 
num, one with a very long spur to the blos¬ 
som, a species of hound’s-tongue, with a 
pencilled flower, a very large white cistus, a 
convolvulus, apparently the same as the con¬ 
volvulus major of our gardens, a pretty 
vetch, like the vicia cracca, and, lastly, we 
had the pleasure of gathering a few very 
large violets of a pale blue colour, and with 
an odour as sweet and powerful as those of 
our own green hedge-banks. 

At the top of the hill we met a shabbily- 
dressed man, who said he had once been a 
priest, in waiting to conduct us to the theatre. 
It was certainly a very interesting relic of 


256 


LETTERS FROM 


antiquity ; but the beautiful prospect around 
us prevented me from paying much atten¬ 
tion to its mouldering walls. The day was 
remarkably clear and bright, and our view 
extended far over the blue Mediterranean, 
and to the coast of Italy, while before us 
rose Mount Etna, the most beautiful of all 
the Sicilian antiquities; though I think it is 
not seen to so much advantage from this 
situation as from Catania. It is said that 
the theatre of Taormina is the largest in the 
world. Our companion, the ex-priest, in¬ 
formed us, that it was admirably well formed 
for conveying the sound of the speaker’s 
voice ; in proof of this, he descended to the 
lower part, and began an oration in Latin, 
not one word of which could we distinguish, 
but whether the fault lay in his bad enuncia¬ 
tion, or in the ruined and incomplete state 
of the building, we could not tell. The 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


257 


walls, which are faced with red bricks, are 
composed of very small stones, but time has 
so hardened the cement in which they are 
set, that they are united into a mass almost 
as firm and durable as a solid rock. Having 
visited the ruins of a temple of Apollo, and 
of a tomb over which two modern churches 
have been erected, we bid farewell to the 
unsuccessful orator, and descended the hill to 
meet the carriage. In our way we met a 
man, dressed in priest’s attire, but as dirty 
and ragged as a beggar, and such to our 
great surprise he proved to be. 

We were delighted with the prospects 
between Giardini and Messina. The road 
for a great part of the way runs very near 
the sea, which at Messina is contracted 
into a narrow channel. On our left was a 
chain of noble mountains, many of which 
were capped with snow, and on some lofty 


258 


LETTERS FROM 


and apparently inaccessible points, almost 
overhanging the road, we were surprised to 
see little villages perched in the most ro¬ 
mantic situations imaginable. It appeared 
to me that a dozen men, furnished with a 
good supply of large stones, might defend 
these eyries from the attack of an army, 
supposing the assailants to be unprovided 
with artillery. 

We passed many beautiful orange and 
lemon plantations on the road, but the crops 
in most of them had been gathered in. 
We stopped at one of these plantations, when 
the owner went to his trees, and gathered for 
us twenty very fine-flavoured oranges, for 
which he asked a sum equal to rather more 
than twopence of English money. On this, 
and on the preceding day we crossed the 
dry beds of several mountain-torrents. As 
the floods come down very suddenly from 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


259 


tlie mountains, it has happened that travel¬ 
lers have been caught between two streams, 
and have been obliged to wait on the bank 
for the water to subside—like the man in 
the fable, though he, poor fellow, was laughed 
at for his folly. 

We arrived at this city, Messina, late in 
the evening. We are at the Hotel du Nord, 
where we are most comfortably accommo¬ 
dated, and we are much pleased with the 
civility and kindness of our hostess Carolina 
Moller. Those travellers who have not 
much knowledge of the Italian language will 
be glad to find that Carolina and her head 
waiter both speak English, the latter so 
correctly, that he might almost be mistaken 
for a native of our island. 

We had been informed at Catania that a 

fine ship, the Asia, was expected to leave 

this port shortly for England, and accordingly 

s 2 


I 


260 LETTERS FROM 

we hastened forwards, hoping to obtain a 
passage home in her. We are now sorry to 
find that she sailed several days ago, and to 
add to our disappointment, there is no 
English vessel with good accommodations in 
the port. We have therefore engaged a 
passage in a Sicilian brig for Marseilles, from 
whence we shall proceed through France to 
Bordeaux, and so home by the first suitable 
vessel that leaves that port for England. 
The cabin of the Sicilian brig is large, and 
tolerably clean, and the captain and crew 
are much more respectable in their appear¬ 
ance than those of the San Pietro. 

Messina is a large and well-built city, and 
it has a beautiful marina, or quay, which is 
very wide, and about a mile in length. It 
commands a delightful view of the opposite 
coast, and of a fine range of mountains, at 
the back of the town: many of the highest 


i 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


*261 


peaks are still covered with snow. The 
streets of Messina are wide and clean, and 
there are several fine churches and other 
buildings. The city has been almost en¬ 
tirely rebuilt since the earthquake of 1783. 
The harbour is safe and capacious, and is 
sheltered by a long narrow point of land of a 
semicircular shape. This natural pier was 
fabled by the ancients to have been formed 
by a sickle which some deity threw into the 
sea. 

You have read of the once terrible Scylla 
and Charybdis, and have heard that they are 
no longer numbered among the perils of the 
deep. The former is a rock close to the 
Calabrian shore, a few miles from Messina, 
and the latter nothing more than an inconsi¬ 
derable eddy, occasioned by the current 
through the straits. If the descriptions we 
have received of this dreaded whirlpool have 


262 


LETTERS FROM 


not been greatly exaggerated, we may con¬ 
clude that some change in the form of the 
coast, or of the bottom of the sea has dimin¬ 
ished its dangerous 'violence. 

The weather has been so cold since we 

* 

arrived here, that we have had no oppor¬ 
tunity of collecting anything, but a few 
plants. I do not think the neighbourhood 
would be very productive at any season of 
the year. 

The oil of bergamot may be purchased in 
Messina, at a very low price, and I have 
bought a considerable quantity of it. It 

is extracted from the rind of a species of 

/ 

lemon, cultivated at Reggio, anciently Rhe- 
gium, on the opposite coast, where St. Paul 
touched on his voyage from Melita towards 
Rome. But I fear that my bottles will never 
reach their destination, as we shall be sub¬ 
jected to the ordeal of two custom-house 
examinations. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


263 


A day or two ago, we witnessed a grand 
procession in honour of St. Joseph. The 
most singular part of the ceremony, was the 
manner in which the populace testified their 
joy on the occasion. In some of the open 
parts of the town, were laid long rows of 
small cannon, or mortars, which were about 
three inches in height, and half an inch in 
the bore, with the metal very thick and flat 
at the bottom, so that they would stand up¬ 
right on the pavement. Some of these rows 
contained several hundreds, and when the 
figure of St. Joseph arrived opposite the spot, 
they were fired by a man with a port-fire, 
walking along the line, producing at a 
very small expense, exactly the effect of 
a running fire of musketry. There was ano¬ 
ther procession of penitents , as they were 
called. They were dressed in white robes, 
covering the head and body, with holes for 


264 


LETTERS FROM 


their eyes, and they had crowns of thorns on 
their heads. They were escorted by sol¬ 
diers and a band of music. 

The captain of our vessel has called to 

say that he intends to sail to-morrow, though 

% 

the wind is not veiy favourable, but the 
weather appears settled and fine, and we 
hope for prosperous gales. 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


265 




LETTER VII. 

Marseilles, May 2nd, 1834 . 

We are at length safely landed at this port 
after a most wearisome voyage of nearly five 
weeks! The distance is only about six 
hundred miles, and the passage is frequently 
made in four or five days, but we have 
sailed at the least twelve hundred miles, and 
have been compelled to take refuge in seve¬ 
ral ports since we left Messina. 

We sailed on Monday night, March 24th: 
during the day the wind had changed in our 
favour, bringing with it a delightfully warm 
and spring-like temperature, and with these 
fair prospects at the beginning of our voyage, 
we hoped for a speedy termination. Our situ- 


266 


LETTERS FROM 


ation was not very enviable. The cabin was 
large, and tolerably clean, for as the vessel 
was nearly new, there had not been time for 
the dirt to accumulate, but nothing had ever 
been done to make the place comfortable. 
It had neither stove, cupboard, shelf, nor 
furniture of any kind, except one small deal 
table, and the only adornment the sides and 
ceiling had ever received, was a thick coat¬ 
ing of tar. The sleeping berths were nothing 
more than rough wooden frames fastened 
to the sides of the cabin with ropes. They 
were furnished with bedding, but we made 
use of nothing but the mattresses, as we had 
purchased some sheets at Messina, and our 
sea-cloaks and coats served us for blankets. 
We had also bought three rush-bottomed 
chairs. The favourable opinion we had 
formed of the respectability of the captain 
and his men was very soon changed. The cap- 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


267 


tain’s father, who was the owner of the vessel, 
boasted that he had once commanded a pri¬ 
vateer, and we strongly suspected that his 
attacks had not been confined to vessels of 
any particular nation. He was a tall thin 
old man, with little restless eyes, sparkling 
with cunning and villany; but he was the 
best seaman on board, and on the subject of 
wind and weather, he had almost a gift of 
prophecy. He prided himself on the warlike 
appearance of his vessel. On deck he had 
four very ancient long six-pounders, and in 
one corner of the cabin were a dozen mus¬ 
kets of English, French, and Spanish manu¬ 
facture, which had evidently seen many years 
hard service. One or two of these pieces 
appeared to have been favourites with the 
owners, who had carved the initials of their 
names, and other devices on the stocks. 
They had perhaps assisted in many a dread¬ 
ful scene of rapine and bloodshed. 


268 


LETTERS FROM 


The captain’s brother, Diego, a fine lad 
about sixteen years of age, appeared rather 
more civilized than any of his companions. 
He had some talent for drawing, and had 
painted a large plan of the flags of various 
nations, with tolerably well-executed views of 
vessels in the corners. Wishing to encourage 
a brother artist, I gave him some paper and 
other drawing materials, but I very soon re¬ 
pented having done so, for he became a most 
importunate beggar, and annoyed me all the 
rest of the voyage by his petitions. He espe¬ 
cially coveted a small two-bladed pen knife 
of mine; and he had the impertinence to say 

to Captain R-, that if I did not give it 

to him, he would find some opportunity of 
taking it, for he was determined it should 
never leave the vessel. It is still in my 
pocket, however. 

We had also a musician in our company, 



I 


MALTA AND SICILY. 269 

a hawk-nosed fellow, called the “ Scrivano,” 
who kept the log-book and the accounts, blit 
took little or no part in the management of 
the vessel. He could sing and play on the 
guitar, but he w r as a very poor performer. 
However, the captain said that he was skilful 
in the use of another instrument, the stiletto , 
and that he had been imprisoned for two 
years for some deed committed wdth this 
weapon. 

My companions and myself occupied the 
only berths in the cabin, but the captain, his 
father and brother, and the stabbing Scrivano, 
usually slept there, lying on the floor, 
wrapped up in their cloaks. Delightful com¬ 
panions for the night, were they not, espe¬ 
cially he of the stiletto ? But though the 
company of such men was in the highest 
degree hateful and disgusting, I believe there 
w as no danger of their doing us any personal 


270 


LETTERS FROM 


injury, for our names and a description of 
our persons were entered in the papers of 
the vessel, and a very strict inquiry would 
have been made at Marseilles if any of the 
passengers had been missing. 

Every evening, except in very bad wea¬ 
ther, all the crew assembled aft, and chanted 
a Latin hymn or prayer, which lasted about 
half an hour. Sometimes at the conclusion, 
Diego and another boy hissed the hands of 
the old pirate, who in return muttered a few 
words, intended, as we supposed, for a bless- 
ing. 

I kept no journal during the voyage, but 
I think it was on the second night after 
leaving Messina that we passed within a few 
miles of Stromboli, one of the Lipari islands, 
and we had the pleasure of seeing jets of 
lire of a bright scarlet colour issuing from 
the crater. Our captain said, that had we 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


271 


been nearer we should have heard loud 
noises. Stromboli is an unquiet spirit, 
always grumbling and fuming. It has been 
suggested, however, that he may perform the 
part of a safety-valve for the escape of 
gasses generated by internal combustion, and 
that perhaps by this means his gigantic 
neighbour, Mount Etna, is kept in the peace¬ 
able and harmless state in which it has now 
remained for many years. 

We continued to have favourable, but very 
light winds, till we were about one hundred 
and fifty miles from Messina, when, after a 
few hours’ calm, we were assailed by a strong 
breeze from the north-westward. Finding it 
impossible to make head against it, we were 
obliged to bear up, and to run back for shel¬ 
ter under Lipari, the principal of the groupe 
of volcanic islands of that name. It ap¬ 
peared to be six or seven miles in length, 


27*2 


LETTERS FROM 


and was high and rocky, but the lower parts 
were cultivated. There was a large town, 
and a castle in a little bay towards the south, 
and near the northern point was a high white 
cliff, which we were informed was composed 
entirely of pumice-stone. As there was no 
good anchorage here, we continued for some 
hours sailing backwards and forwards, under 
the friendly shelter of the island, hoping for 
a change of wind, till at length the old pirate, 
after a careful survey of the heavens, pre¬ 
dicted that the gale would continue, and he 
said that we must seek a safer harbour. Ac¬ 
cordingly we scudded before the wind, and 
in a few hours cast anchor in the Bay of 
Milazzo, on the northern coast of Sicily. 
This bay is sheltered by a narrow tongue of 
land, which extends two or three miles into 
the sea, forming a tolerably safe harbour, ex¬ 
cept during northerly winds, when it is en- 


Malta and sicily. 


*273 


tirely exposed. We passed a very uncom¬ 
fortable night, the vessel pitching heavily. 

In the morning we went on shore to buy 

provisions, for Captain R-—, to whom we 

had entrusted the business of laying in a sea- 
stock, appeared, from the scanty manner in 
which he had provided for us, to have calcu¬ 
lated upon our having a very short voyage 
indeed. On landing we first went to a little 
dirty inn, and satisfied our present appetites 
with some broiled fish and eggs, for no meat 
of any kind could be procured. The town of 
Milazzo is a miserable place, swarming with 
beggars of all ages, but chiefly children, and the 
country in the nighbourhood is very flat and 
uninteresting. After a long inland walk we 

t 

returned to the town, tired and dispirited, 
and sat down to rest ourselves in a coffee¬ 
house kept by a very fat woman named Rosa. 
Here we remained more than two hours 


T 



274 


LETTERS FROM 


waiting for some milk for our coffee, for the 
presiding goddess assured us it would arrive 
in a few minutes. It came at last, accom¬ 
panied by. some excellent butter and new 
bread, and we made a very comfortable meal; 
after which, as it was now dark, we proceeded 
on board for the night, for the beds at the 
inn appeared much less inviting than our own. 

The next day the wind shifted round to 
the northward, directly into the bay, and 
raised such a sea, that it was quite impossible 
for us to go on shore. We passed a most 
comfortless day, the vessel rolling and pitch¬ 
ing fearfully; and towards noon the gale in¬ 
creased to such a degree, that for some hours 
we were in continual expectation that our 
cable would have parted. But the wind be¬ 
came more moderate in the night, and the 
next morning the sea was sufficiently smooth 
to allow us to pay our fat friend Donna Rosa 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


275 


another visit, though we had some difficulty 
in persuading our surly captain to lower his 
boat for us. We now walked to the other 
side of the promontory, on which the town is 
situated, where we found a line, wide, pebbly 
beach, some miles in extent. Here we fell 
in with a sportsman, who very civilly requested 
our acceptance of a few small birds he had 
killed that morning. Soon afterwards we 
saw a monk approaching us, striding along 
the beach at the rate of five or six miles an 
hour, and throwing his arms about in a most 
violent manner. He saluted us with much 

civility, and when Captain R-alluded to 

the extraordinary display we had just wit¬ 
nessed, he said that he was rehearsing a ser¬ 
mon which he intended to preach the next 
morning. 

Near the beach we observed a small spe¬ 
cies of aloe, with a yellow flower. We found 



276 


LETTERS FROM 


no shells, and our only entomological prize 
was a single bad specimen of a butterfly re¬ 
sembling our wood argus. 

Before we entered the town again I cut a 
little switch, determined to make use of it to 
repel the crowds of begging children who 
had surrounded us in the morning. But 
their wretched appearance quite disarmed 
me, and I found it impossible to strike their 
naked backs. The little unfortunates soon 
discovered that my stick was perfectly harm¬ 
less, and we were again hunted through the 
streets from one end of the town to the 
other. 

When we returned on board in the even¬ 
ing, we made a discovery, which proved that 
we had not unjustly suspected the character 
of our shipmates, and which also accounted 
for the rapid consumption of our provisions. 
We found that we were in a den of thieves ! 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


277 


My carpet-bag which contained between two 
and three hundred dollars, had evidently 
been forced open far enough to admit of the 
introduction of a hand, and a considerable 
amount had been abstracted. I do not 
know how other travellers would have acted in 
such a case, but after a consultation on the 
subject, we determined to bear our loss pa¬ 
tiently, and quietly. For had we taken the 
proper steps for bringing the robbers to justice, 
it might have occasioned a long delay in our 
voyage, and it was very doubtful whether we 
should have obtained redress, as we could not 
state the exact sum we had lost, for we had 
not kept a very correct account of our money 
or expenditure, since we left Malta. Even 
if we had recovered our loss, it would not 
have been very agreeable nor prudent to 
have continued our voyage in company with 
a dozen enraged Sicilians. However, we 


278 


LETTERS FROM 


determined to keep strict watch over the 
plunderers for the future, and in the morning, 
when my companions went on shore for pro¬ 
visions, I remained on board as a guard. 

The captain had assured us that he should 
not sail till the middle of the next day, and 
had persuaded us not to purchase our sea-stock 
till the morning. At midnight, however, he 
got under weigh, and proceeded to sea. 
And now for several days we suffered greatly 
from hunger, though we were in no danger of 
absolute starvation, for the captain was very 
willing to supply us with such trash as Si¬ 
cilian seamen are accustomed to feed upon. 
The rogue had deceived us about the time of 
his leaving Milazzo, in order that, having no 
provisions of our own, we might be obliged 
to purchase of him. So for nearly a week 
we lived chiefly upon bad biscuit, Sicilian 
cheese, dried peas and beans, or if we had 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


279 


wished for a change of diet we might have 
feasted upon garlic, or upon olives swimming 
in rancid oil. We should have considered 
a piece of English ship-beef, or pork, a very 
great luxury, had it been ever so salt and 
tough, but there was no meat of any kind on 
board. 

After beating about for five or six days, 
during which time we again had occasion to 
take shelter for a night under Lipari, we at 
length put into Palermo. We arrived late in 
the afternoon, and had been consoling 
ourselves with the prospect of a good meal, 
and a comfortable bed on shore, but, to our 
great disappointment, the captain declared 
that the water was too rough for us to land 
that evening. In the morning we put seals 
upon all our packages, in the presence of 
the old man and several of the crew, whose 
sullen faces showed that this proceeding did 


‘280 


LETTERS FROM 


V. 

not meet with their approbation; we then 
crossed the harbour to the Pratique office, 
where we were detained more than an hour, 
while our papers were under examination. 
The captains of several other vessels were at 
the office, for the same purpose as ourselves, 
and as the court in which we stood was very 
small, we were obliged to be extremely 
careful not to come in contact with any of 
them, as that might have subjected us to a 
long quarantine. 

Palermo is a large and beautiful city. 
The handsome shops and the numbers of 
well-dressed people and of carriages in the 
streets, make it a very gay and entertaining 
place; but the weather was so wet during a 
great part of our stay there, and we were so 
exhausted by our long starvation, that we 
were prevented from seeing much of the 
city or the neighbourhood. There is a very 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


281 


beautiful and extensive botanic-garden, open 
to the public, I believe, at all hours. The 
long shaded walks and pretty fountains 
would make it a delightful retreat in sum¬ 
mer, but when we visited it there were very 
few flowers in blossom, most of the trees 
were leafless, and the rain was falling 
heavily. 

We hired a coach one fine morning, and 
rode to the foot of Monte Pellegrino. There 
was a zigzag path to the top, but after 
ascending a few hundred yards, I found 
myself so weak and tired, that I turned back 
and waited for my companions at the bot¬ 
tom of the hill. In a stony uncultivated 
piece of grbund, by the side of the path, I 
found a large yellow asphodelus, the convol¬ 
vulus major, (the pink variety,) two or three 
kinds of veronica, and several other new 
plants. I saw many swallow-tailed butter- 


282 


LETTERS FROM 


flies, and two or three belonging to the 
genus polyommatus , which appeared quite 
different from the British species. As I had 
no net with me, I was unable to catch any 
of these butterflies, except one or two of the 
swallow-tails, which fled heavily and slowly. 
Green lizards were in great abundance. 
Wearied with chasing butterflies, I sat down 
by a large prickly-pear bush, to admire the 
brilliant colours and graceful movements of 
these little reptiles, as they pursued each 
other from leaf to leaf, appearing to vie with 
each other in feats of agility. 

In an hour or two I was joined by my 
companions, whose resolution had failed 
them when about half-way up the mountain, 
but they gave such a description of the 
beautiful view they had enjoyed, that I 
almost regretted having remained behind. 
We determined to visit this spot again the 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


283 

next day provided with our entomological 
apparatus; but on our return to the city we 
met the captain of our vessel, who informed 
us that the wind was now fair, and that he 
should sail in the evening. 

We did not leave Palermo without a good 
supply of provisions. Besides other articles, 
we bought a large basket-full of oranges and 
sweet-lemons, and a bag of potatoes, but the 
last proved to be very inferior in quality to 
those that are usually given to pigs in Eng¬ 
land. When boiled they were black and 
watery. Hoping to put a stop to future pil¬ 
fering, we now removed all the chests and 
boxes belonging to the captain and his gang 
to one side of the cabin, and placed our lug¬ 
gage and baskets of provisions on the other, 
in order that the enemy might have no excuse 
for entering upon our territories. But the 
old pirate, the most determined thief of the 


1 


284 


LETTERS FROM 


party, not at all approving of this arrange¬ 
ment, soon after slilv drove a nail into the 
boards between our berths, and hanged his 
hat upon it. This I immediately removed to 
the other side of the cabin. However, with 
all our precautions, we could not prevent 
these rogues from sharing our provisions 
with us; and I believe that the musician and 
the painter had more than half of our 
oranges between them. And the principle, 
of “ honour among thieves,” was entirely 
unknown to them, for they made no scruple 
of stealing from each other whenever oppor¬ 
tunity offered. 

The day after we left Palermo we passed 
very near to the little island of Ustrica, which 
appeared to be entirely cultivated. From 
this island we shaped a course, as nearly as 
the wind would permit, for the Straits of 
Bonifacio, between Corsica and Sardinia, but 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


285 


after five clays, during which we made very 
slow progress, we encountered a strong 
breeze from the westward, which soon com¬ 
pelled our timid mariners to run back for 
shelter under the island of Ponza, near the 
Bay of Naples. When it became dark 
we could see to the eastward a red light, 
which our captain said proceeded from 
Vesuvius. We remained under Ponza all 
night, sailing to and fro, and in the morning, 
as the water was tolerably smooth, we in¬ 
sisted upon going on shore for provisions, 
for our stock, by the assistance of our 
friends, was entirely exhausted, and we 
began to feel the pains of emptiness again. 
The captain opposed this measure vehe¬ 
mently ; but at length, by promising to buy 
them some fresh fish for their dinner, we 
persuaded two of the men to accompany us, 
contrary to his orders, for he had not much 


286 


LETTERS FROM 


authority over his disorderly crew. I do not 
know whether the scrivano entered in his 
journal that the passengers and a part of the 
crew were in a state of mutiny on that day, 
but such was the fact. With the prospect 
of several days of starvation before us if we 
did not land for provisions, we paid no 
regard to the captain’s fierce looks, nor to 
his oft-repeated “ Io sono capitano ! ” * We 
had to row about a mile and a half to the 
town, which appeared to be a poor, small 
place, but we were not allowed to leave the 
quay, where we were guarded by two quaran¬ 
tine officers, to prevent our touching any 
person. We were soon supplied with an 
abundance of provisions, consisting of bread, 
bacon, fish, eggs, and potatoes, all of very 
good quality except the latter, which were 

* “ I am captain ! ” 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


287 


no better than those we had bought at 
Palermo. Neither meat nor oranges were 
to be procured. When we had purchased a 
sea-stock which we thought would be quite 
sufficient to last us for a fortnight, we has¬ 
tened on board, but our appetites were so 
keen that we could not refrain from trying 
the quality of our provisions before we 
reached the vessel. So we made a most 
delightful meal of bread and raw bacon , 
while our men sat and laughed at us till they 
could scarcely use their oars. In the ecsta¬ 
sies of their merriment they shouted— <c Ah, 
San Diavolo ! San Diavolo ! ” which extra¬ 
ordinary invocation was not uncommonly 
made use of by them. 

- In the course of the day a fair wind 
sprang up, and continued with us till we 
were about a hundred miles from the Straits 
of Bonifacio, when we were becalmed for 


288 


LETTERS FROM 


several days. During this time, while at the 
distance of sixty or seventy miles from the 
nearest land, we were visited by a great 
number of birds, many of which were so 
tired that they suffered themselves to be 
taken by the hand. The swallows must 
have been a long time on the wing, for they 
were so exhausted that the boy Diego caught 
upwards of thirty in the space of two days. 
The following is a list of our visitors : swal¬ 
low, marten, sand-marten, wheatear, yellow- 
hammer, little butcher-bird, robin, stone- 
chat, willow-wren, little horned owl, and 
hoopoe. The latter beautiful bird rested on 
the bowsprit for a few seconds only, and 
then took his departuie, but the poor little 
owl was caught by one of the men and con¬ 
fined for several days, when he died, and 

was immediately boiled and eaten by his 

% 

captor! 


MALTA AND SICILY. 


*281) 


One day during these tedious calms a 
large object was discovered floating on the 
water, and the boat was sent to bring it on 
board. It proved to be a dead porpoise, 
and though the flesh was nearly black, it was 
all cut up and salted for future consumption, 
but the liver was fried and eaten immedi¬ 
ately. From the fat of this fish a large 
quantity of very good oil, with scarcely any 
odour, was extracted. The men offered us 
a share of the fried liver, which we declined, 
but I must confess that it had a very tempt¬ 
ing smell, and had the fish met with its 
death from the harpoon instead of from 
natural causes, I would certainly have par¬ 
taken of this novel dish. 

I must hasten to conclude this long nar¬ 
rative of our most tedious and miserable 
voyage. We passed through the Straits of 
Bonifacio on the evening of the seventh day 


u 


290 


LETTERS FROM 


after leaving Ponza. As the passage is about 
ten miles wide, we had not a clear view of 
the islands, but the land on both sides ap¬ 
peared very high, and in many parts thickly 
wooded. Three days after passing the 
Straits we saw Cape Tagliato, on the French 
coast, from which we were distant twenty 
or thirty miles. 

We now began to suffer again most 
severely lfom scarcity of provisions, for our 
stock was reduced to a few hall-rotten pota¬ 
toes and a very small piece of bacon, which 
we husbanded with the greatest care. For¬ 
tunately our misery was not increased by 
thirst, for we had an abundance of tolerably 
good water, and there were several casks of 
the red Sicilian wine on board. I made 
many attempts to relieve our wants by fish¬ 
ing, but though often tantalized with bites 
1 could not succeed in hooking a single lish, 


MALTA AND SICILY. -21)1 

and was at length obliged to abandon all 
hopes of obtaining a meal in this way, while 
our men laughed heartily at the disappoint¬ 
ment of “ II Signor Lungo,”* as they called 
me. 

The day before we arrived we fell in with 
a French pilot, from whom we obtained a 
supply of bread, the only article of food he 
could spare us. It was very dry and stale, 
but we thought it delicious, and made a 
hearty meal on it. 

We landed at this port on Sunday, April 
27th, and we shall leave it again to-morrow 
for Bordeaux. The prospect of travelling 
four hundred miles in a rumbling, sluggish 
diligence is not agreeable, but we console 
ourselves with thinking that whatever incon¬ 
veniences we may be subjected to on the 


* “ The long gentleman,” 


292 LETTERS FROM MALTA, &C. 

journey starvation will not be one of them. 
After five days’ rest and a diligent use of 
those restoratives which French artists are 
so clever in compounding, w r e are now quite 
recovered from our long abstinence. I 
should have said that the body is recovered ; 
but a slight degree of mental weakness yet 
remains, for even when the animal wants have 
been fully satisfied, the imagination is still 
craving and anticipating the pleasures of the 
next meal. 

If the information we have received be 
correct, we shall arrive at Bordeaux two 
days before the departure of a steam-packet 
from that port for Falmouth. 

THE END. 


J. Rickerby, Printer, Sherbourn Lane. 



HARVEY AND DARTON’S 

PUBLICATIONS, 
lot Young people. 


HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 


Fourth Edition, revised and enlarged, 

HISTORICAL PRINTS. 

REPRESENTING SOME OF THE MOST MEMORABLE EVENTS IN 

ENGLISH HISTORY, 

IN WHICH THE COSTUMES OF THE TIMES ARE CAREFULLY PRESERVED 

WITH DESCRIPTIONS, 

BY EMILY TAYLOR, 

Author of" Tales of the Saxons.” &c. 

Foolscap 8vo. cloth, gilt edges. Price Gs. 


A NEW EDITION. 

ENGLISH STORIES OF THE OLDEN TIME. 

BY MARIA HACK. 

2 vols. 12mo. cloth lettered. With Vignettes by Harvey. Price 12s. 

“ A popular History of England, from Alfred to Elizabeth, adapted to the capa¬ 
cities of young persons. The matter is unexceptionable, and embodies a good 
deal of information, valuable and interesting to juvenile readers. Certain defects 
of manner are counterbalanced by the dispassionate and just estimate of the cha¬ 
racters of the persons, and the causes and influence of events.”— Spectator. 


GRECIAN STORIES. 

BY MARIA HACK. 

With Thirty-eight fine Illustrations by Gilbert, engraved by Wright and 
Folkard. 12mo. cloth lettered. Price8s. 

“ I find that men as high as trees will write 
Dialogue wise, vet no man doth them slight 
For writing so.’— Bunyan. 

“ These historical narratives are composed on the popular plan of the entertaining 
and instructive stories of the authoress, relating to England. They will be valu¬ 
able, especially to the non-classical, as an accurate picture of Greece, its annals, 
and its great men .”—Taifs Mag. 


TALES OF THE GREAT AND BRAVE. 

BY MISS M. FRASER TYTLER. 

CONTAINING MEMOIRS OF 

THE BLACK PRINCE—WALLACE-BKUCE-JOAN OF ARC— 
RICHARD CCEUR DE LION—PRINCE CHARLES EDWARD STUART 
—NELSON, AND NAPOLEON BUONAPARTE. 

With a coloured Frontispiece. Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 5s. 

« A charming book, dedicated to a boy ‘ in anticipation of his fifth birth-dar, 
to whom it must carry a lively interest, as well as to all boys of a maturer age/ 

Hereford Timet. 


NAOMI; 

OR, THE LAST DAYS OF JERUSALEM. 

BY MRS. J. B. WEBB. 

With a Plan. Foolscap, 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 7 s 6d. 









o 


Harvey and Darton’s Publications. 


THE DUKES OF NORMANDY, 

FROM THE TIME OF ROLLO, TO THE EXPULSION OF KING JOHN 
BY PHILIP AUGUSTUS OF FRANCE. 

BY JONATHAN DUNCAN, ESQ. B. A. 

Author of “ The Religions of Profane Antiquity." 

12mo. cloth lettered. Price 6s. 

“ The author has, in this elegant little volume, supplied a deficiency in the his¬ 
torical literature of England. Great care has been taken in selecting from the best 
authorities—the style expresses the historian’s nervous anxiety to record nothing but 
the facts on which he himself relies, after due consideration—and he is throughout 
clear, instructive, and concise. The author deserves the highest praises for what 
he has accomplished—the sample is so good that we only wish we had more of 
it .”—Staffordshire Examiner. 


fl^tgtoncal ^Talctf, bn 3EmUg 2Taglor. 

Foolscap 8vo. Cloth gilt. 

TALES OF THE SAXONS:— 

H AC O THE GOO D,—H ERE VVA RD THE SAXO N,—A N D 
THE FORESTER’S DAUGHTER. 

Price 5s. 


TALES OF THE ENGLISH 

THE KNEVETS.—A TALE OF THE REFORMATION. 

Price 4s. 6d. 


THE REVOCATION 
OF THE EDICT OF NANTES; 

CONTAINING MEMOIRS OF 


SOME OF THE SUFFERERS, DURING THE PERSECUTIONS 
CONSEQUENT ON THAT EVENT. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF “ THE MINSTRELSY OF THE WOODS,” &C. 
Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 4s. 


A MEMOIR 

OF 

EDWARD FOSTER BRADY, 

LATE SUPERINTENDENT OF CROYDON SCHOOL. 
CONSISTING CHIEFLY OF EXTRACTS FROM HIS LETTERS AND JOURNAL. 
Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 2s. 6d. 


STORIES FROM ROMAN HISTORY. 

BY A LADY. 

With Illustrations. Price 4s. cloth lettered. 


ALLISON’S GUIDE TO ENGLISH HISTORY 

18mo. cloth lettered, 3s. 









Harvey and Dar ton’s Publications 


3 


ANCIENT HISTORY, 

FROM THE EARLIEST RECORDS TO THE TIME OF XERXES, 
FORMING AN INTRODUCTION TO THE 
HISTORIES OF GREECE AND ROME IN COMMON USE. 

BY MRS. M. PERCIVAL. 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 4s. 

FACTS AND FEELINGS, 

ILLUSTRATIVE OF 

INTERIOR RELIGION; 

ACCOMPANIED BY 

MEMORIALS OF MADAME GUYON, FENELON, AND OTHER 
SPIRITUAL PERSONS, 

WITH EXTRACTS FROM THEIR WORKS. 

BY MARY ANN KELTY. 

Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 4s. 

EARLY DAYS 
IN THE SOCIETY OF FRIENDS. 

BY M. A. KELTY. 

12mo. cloth. Price 7s. 6d. 

*« We have rarely looked into a contribution to the Library of Dissent, more qua¬ 
lified by its earnestness, and by the absence of all that is offensive, to meet with 
acceptance among the orthodox—nay more, to penetrate those large masses of the 
reading world who take no particular ism under their protection, and can only be 
interested by details illustrating the feelings and characteristics common to hu¬ 
manity. Mary Anne Kelty’s book may, we think, be perused with interest, as a 
record of the early struggles of a body of conscientious men, apart from the 
peculiar doctrines it is intended to enforce and illustrate.”— Athenaeum. 


NATURAL HISTORY. 


CHARLIE’S DISCOVERIES; 

OR, 

A GOOD USE FOR EYES AND EARS. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF “THE OLD OAK CHEST,” “WALTER O’NIEL,” &C. 

WITH MANY CUTS, BY T. WILLIAMS. 

Ritno. Cloth. Gilt edges. Price 4s. 6'd. 

“ Charlie's Discoveries, being set forth in a lively and attractive manner, and 
illustrated with beautiful wood-cuts, are calculated to make more juvenile disco¬ 
veries of the wonders that are everywhere about us, though but little known.”— 
Spectator. __ 

THE BOY AND THE BIRDS. 

BY EMILY TAYLOR. 

WITH SIXTEEN FINE WOOD-CUTS, FROM LANDSEER’S DESIGNS. 

16mo. Gilt edges. Price 3s. 6'd. 

« A delightful book for children. The birds tell of their habits to a little in¬ 
quiring boy, who goes peeping into their nests and watching their doings: and a 
very pleasant way they have of talking, sure to engage the young reader’s attention. 
The designs are pretty, and nicely cut on wood.”— Spectator. 


THE MINSTRELSY OF THE WOODS. 

SKETCHES OF SOME OF THE 

MOST INTERESTING BRITISH BIRDS 
Wish Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered, Price Gs.: or with coloured Plates, and gilt 

edges. Price Us. 













4 


Harvey and Darton's Publications 


BINGLEY’S ANIMATED NATURE. 

With Plates by Howitt, 12mo. half-bound. Price 7s* 


GEOLOGICAL SKETCHES, 

AND 

GLIMPSES OF THE ANCIENT EARTH. 

BY MARIA HACK. 

WITH ILLUSTRATIVE PLATES AND MAPS. 

Third Edition. J2mo. cloth lettered. Price 9s. 

“ A compendium of the most striking facts of Geology, thrown into the form of 
dialogue, adapted to the comprehension of the young,’ but not unfitted for elder 
readers. Of its merit, ‘ third edition’ is sufficient proof.”— Spectator. 


MORNING WALKS; 

OR, 

STEPS TO THE STUDY OF MINERALOGY. 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 6s. 

“ Of the value of this little volume we cannot speak too highly, and tve would 
recommend its perusal to every class of our readers, who, in a simple form, wish 
for an introduction to this delightful science. It is written in so simple a form that 
parents who w’ish to instruct their children in Mineralogy, cannot secure the rudi¬ 
ments of them better than by 4 Morning Walks.’ ”—Staffordshire Examiner. 


RUDIMENTS OF MINERALOGY. 

BY M. A. VENNING. 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 4s. 6cL 


By the same Author. 

RUDIMENTS OF CONCHOLOGYL 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered, Price 3s. 6d. j or with coloured Plates, 

Price 5s. 


INSTINCT DISPLAl^ED 

IN THE ANIMAL CREATION. 

A NEW ANI) REVISED EDITION. 

WITH MANY ADDITIONS TO THE ORIGINAL WORK OF PRISCILLA 

WAKEFIELD. 

Foolscap, 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 5s. 

“ A nice little work, in the shape of letters between two voong ladies, who are 
ndueed to study natural history. The anecdotes are well sol eted, and told in a 
simple and unaffected manner, w hich greatly enhances their value. The oh ect 
the authoress had in view is humane, and her book ought to be in the hands cf 
every child from eight to twelve years of age .”—Bristol Mercury. 


THE SQUIRRELS AND OTHER ANIMALS ; 

OR, ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE H'BITS AND INSTINCTS OF MANY OF 
THE SMALLER BRITISH QUADRUPEDS 

BY GEORGE WARING. 

With G’uts. Square lfimo. Price 3s. 6*i, 












Harvey and Barton's Publications 


6 


TRAVELS AND GEOGRAPHY. 


WINTER EVENINGS; 

OR, 

TALES OF TRAVELLERS. 

BY MARIA HACK. 

A new Edition in one vol. cloth lettered. Price 6s. 

THE PERILS OF PAUL PERCIVAL; 
OR, THE YOUNG ADVENTURER. 

BY THE REV. J. YOUNG, M. A. 

AUTHOR OF "TALES OF MY FATHER ” “RECORD OF PROVIDENCE,” 

“ LITERARY RECREATIONS,” &c. 

With Cuts. lGmo. cloth gilt. 

SPAIN, YESTERDAY AND TO-DAY. 

BY A LADY. 

COMPILED FROM AN ACTUAL JOURNAL. 

Foolscap 8vo. Cloth lettered. Price 5s. 

“ The idea of this little volume is excellent. An English gentleman of fortune 
becomes heir to a rich relation in Spain: he travels there with his family, and we 
have in this work the result of their experience and inquiries. A popular picture 
of the country was wanted: here we find the essence of many large works presented 
in a form particularly attractive to the young .”—Gloucestershire Chronicle. 


THE IRISH TOURIST; 

OR, THE 

PEOPLE AND THE PROVINCES OF IRELAND. 

WITH A MAP OF THE ROUTE THROUGHOUT THE ISLAND. 

Foolsca 8 vo. cloth lettered. Price 4s. 6d. 

“ The author of this work has succeeded to admiration in getting up an attractive 
volume on Ireland. He conducts the reader from one important place to another, 
and affords him an entertaining and often touching view of the manners by which 
the people are distinguished. With the characteristic exhibitions of Irish senti¬ 
ment and expression contained in the occasional dialogues, we are as much amused 
as by any sketches of the sort in connexion with the Scotch, by the author of VVa- 
verly. The Tour is diversified by conversations and notices, biographical and his¬ 
torical .”—Derbyshire Courier. 


SOUTH AUSTRALIA, 

IN' A SERIES OF LETTERS, 

BY ROBERT GOUGER, ESQ. COLONIAL SECRETARY. 
Second Edition, with a Map of the Colony. Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered, price 5s 

THE NEW ESTATE; 

OR, THE YOUNG TRAVELLERS IN WALES 
AND IRELAND. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF " SPAIN,” &c. 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 6s. 

“ This little work is admirably adapted for giving young ladies and gentlemen a 
short and faithful account of the characteristics, manners, and anecdotes of these 
romantic parts of our kingdom. Instruction and amusement may both he derived 
from its perusal, and the introduction of numerous plates will add not a little to its 
charms in the eyes of the youthiul historian .”—Staffordshire Examiner. 












6 


Harvey and Darton’s Publications. 


ALLISON’S FIRST LESSONS IN GEOGRAPHY. 

18mo. sewed. Price 9d. 


A FAMILY TOUR 

THROUGH THE BRITISH EMPIRE. 

BY PRISCILLA WAKEFIELD. 

A NEW EDITION, REVISED AND CORRECTED TO THE 
PRESENT TIME. 

With a Map. 12mo. half-bound. Price 6s. 


THE JUVENILE TRAVELLERS; 

A TOUR THROUGHOUT EUROPE. 

BY PRISCILLA WAKEFIELD. 

A NEW EDITION, CORRECTED TO THE PRESENT TIME. 

With a Map. 12mo. half-bound. Price 6s. 


ALFRED DUDLEY; 

OR, THE AUSTRALIAN TRAVELLERS. 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 5s. 


PORTUGAL; 

AN ACCOUNT OF THE COUNTRY, k. 

COMPILED FROM THE JOURNAL OF A LADY. 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 5s. 


A GENERAL ATLAS, 

FOR THE USE OF SCHOOLS. 

WITH A SHORT INTRODUCTION TO GEOGRAPHY. 

BY JOHN ADAMS. 

Twenty-seven Maps, coloured. Price 10s. 6d. 8vo. cloth lettered. 
Another by Isaac Payne. Price 5s. coloured. 


A VOYAGE TO INDIA; 

OR, THREE MONTHS ON THE OCEAN. 

With Cuts. 16mo. Price 4s. 


SCIENCE. 


CHEMISTRY NO MYSTERY; 

OR, A LECTURER’S BEQUEST. 

- BY JOHN SCOFFKRN. 

With numerous Illustrations. Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 6s. 

“ A very agreeable account of some of the leading facts and principles of Che¬ 
mistry, not only made plain to the meanest capacity, but attractive, we should 
HW, to the most idle youth, and amusing to all.”—Spectator. 

1 his work contains quite as much information as is requisite for any person 
who does not intend to make Chemistry a professional or hobby-horsical pursuit. 
I he various information is conveyed in a clear and distinct manner, so that the 
dullest child can hardly fail to understand what it means. We recommend every 
father to purchase this work for his children, unless they happen to be particularly 
stupid. It does much credit to Mr. bcoffern, the author: it is very well printed, 
and neatly bound. —Polytechnic Journal. " 












Harvey and Dart on’s Publications , 


THE LITTLE BOOK OF KNOWLEDGE; 

CONTAINING USEFUL INFORMATION ON COMMON THINGS 
FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. 

BY ELIZABETH G. NOVERRE. 

With Eight Elegant Illustrations, 16mo. gilt edges. Price 3s. Gd. 

“ This little volume is well adapted to the capacities of children, and will give 
them ideas of many things which after-study can expand and confirm. It is ele¬ 
gantly printed, and is illustrated with some beautiful engravings.”— Doncaster 
Chronicle. 

THE PARENT’S 

MEDICAL AND SURGICAL ASSISTANT: 

AFFORDING 

FAMILIAR DIRECTIONS FOR THE MANAGEMENT 
OF THE SUDDEN ILLNESSES AND VARIOUS ACCIDENTS THAT 

REQUIRE PROMPT AND JUDICIOUS TREATMENT. 

BY J. A. BROMHEAD. 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 3s. 


THE ORGANS OF THE SENSES, 

Familiarly described. With Coloured Plates. 

BY CHARLES AMY BELL. Roan lettered. Price 6s. 


ON THE 

IMPROVEMENT OF THE FEMALE FIGURE, 

WITH A NEW MODE OF TREATMENT OF 
LATERAL CURVATURE OF THE SPINE. 

BY G. B. CHILDS. With Illustrative Plates. Cloth lettered. Price 5s. 


SCHOOL-BOOKS. 


A NEW DERIVATIVE SPELLING-BOOK, 

IN WHICH 

THE ORIGIN OF EACH WORD IS GIVEN 

From the Grech, Latin, Saxon, German, Teutonic, Dutch, French, Spanish, 

and other Languages; 

ALSO THEIR PRESENT ACCEPTATION, 

WITH THE PARTS OF SPEECH ACCURATELY DISTINGUISHED AND THE 
SYLLABLES ACCENTED AGREEAELY TO THE MOST 
CORRECT PRONUNCIATION. 

BY J. ROWBOTHAM, F. R. A. S. 

12mo. bound and lettered. Price 2s. 

“ A most useful school-book, that should be put into the hands of every young 
learner: for it not only gives an insight into the formation of the English language, 
but may induce to the study of others, and it impresses the meaning and spelling 
of the words on the pupil’s memory.”— Spectator. 

“ The work before us has been prepared with great research and attention, and 
is admirable of its kind.”— Atlas. 











$ 


Harvey and Darton’s Publications , 


ROWBOTHAM’S NEW DERIVATIVE AND 
ETYMOLOGICAL DICTIONARY 

OF SUCH ENGLISH WORDS AS HAVE THEIR ORIGIN IN THE 
GREEK AND LATIN LANGUAGES. 

Foolscap, cloth lettered. Price 7s. 


AN IMPROVED METHOD 

OF PERFORMING COMMERCIAL CALCULATIONS 

REPRESENTING 

THE SCIENCE OF ARITHMETIC IN A NEW LIGHT. 

A BOOK OF GENERAL UTILITY. 

Containing, among other matter, a full Illustration of the Theory of Proportion 
and the German Chain Rule. 

BY J. FELTON. 

12mo. bound and lettered. Price 2s. 


Also, by the same Author, and adapted to the above, 
THE TEACHER S MANUAL 
OF MENTAL ARITHMETIC; 

DISPLAYING A SIMPLE METH D OF 
SUCCESSFULLY COMMUNICATING INSTRUCTION IN 
THAT MOST USEFUL SCIENCE. 

TOGETHER WITH 

A KEY TO THE CALCULATIONS. 

12mo. cloth lettered. Price 2s. 

“ An extremely valuable little work. The rules which it gives for solving all 
questions in Arithmetic are so simple, and the mode of operation so brief and plain, 
that to every one anxious to acquire a ready method of performing calculations, it 
must be a most desirable hand-book.”— Atlas. 


HELP TO THE SCHOOLMISTRESS; 

OR, 

VILLAGE TEACHING. 

BY EMILY TAYLOR. 

Author of “ Tales of the Saxons,” “ Tales of the English,” &c. 
18mo. cloth lettered. Price Is. 6d. 


THE PICTORIAL ENGLISH GRAMMAR 

With One Hundred and Twenty Illustrations by Alfred C’ROWQUILL. 
16mo. cloth lettered. Price 3s. Gd. 







Harvey and Darton’s Publications. 


9 


THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY, 

OR 

SPELLING-BOOK; 

WITH THE MEANING ATTACHED TO EACH WORD. 


Compiled for the Use of Ackworth School. 

A new Edition. 18mo. Cloth lettered. Price Is. 6d. 


LEgONS POUR DES ENFANS^ . 
DEPUIS L’AGE DE DEUX ANS JUSQU’A CINQ. 

TRADUIT DE L’ANGLAIS DE MADAME BARBAULD. 

AVEC ONE INTERPRETATION ANGLA1SE. 

18mo. cloth lettered. Price 2s. 


A CLASSICAL AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL 

DICTIONARY 

OF THE 

MANNERS, CUSTOMS, LAWS, &C., OF THE CELEBRATED NATIONS 
OF ANTIQUITY AND THE MIDDLE AGES. 

BY DR. NUTTALL. 

8vo. cloth. Price 16s. 


AN INTRODUCTION 

TO THE 

KNOWLEDGE OF BOOK-KEEPING. 

BY R. ROE. 

8vo. half-fcound. Price 3s. 6d. 

A Set of Ruled Books, to accompany the above, price 3s. 


LECTURES ELEMENT AIRES. 

PAR LE COMTE BARDI. 

WITH AN INTERLINEARY ENGLISH TRANSLATION, ON THE 
HAMILTONIAN SYSTEM. 

12mo. Price 3s. 


ENGLISH PARSING LESSONS. 

BY JAMES GILES. 

12mo. Price 2s. 6d. 









10 


Harvey and Darton's Publications. 


MISCELLANEOUS. 


THE OLD OAK CHEST; 

OR, A BOOK A GREAT TREASURE. 

BY THE AUTHOR OF CHARLIE’S DISCOVERIES, &c. 
With Cuts, lGmo. cloth gilt. Price 3s. fid. 

“ A pretty, amusing, and instructive book, adapted as a parlour-book for little 
children.”— Sunday School Teacher's Magazine. 


By the Authors of “ Original Poems.” 

RHYMES FOR THE NURSERY. 

18mo. cloth lettered. Price Is. 6d. 

ALSO AN ILLUSTRATED EDITION, IN LARGE TYPE, 

With Sixteen fine Cuts, by Wright, from Designs by Gilbert, 10‘mo. cloth, 

gilt edges. Price 3s. (id. 

“ An old friend with a new face, and an open and a gay one too. The large, 
clear type invites the young reader to learn tire story of the nice little pictures. 
These verses for children have never been surpassed, scarcely equalled indeed—for 
the happy union of fancy and precept, the simplicity and intelligibility of the 
ideas and words, and the fluency and conciseness of the Rhymes. The Miss Tay¬ 
lors are the best nursery lyrists, after all.”— Spectator. 


WITH ENGRAVINGS AND WOOD-CUT ILLUSTRATIONS. 

TALES OF MANY LANDS, 

BY MISS M. FRASER TYTLER, 

Author of “ Tales of the Great and Brave.” 

Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 7s. Gd. 

“ Sketches of common life, and traits of childish character, intermingled skil¬ 
fully with pictures of foreign scenery and national characteristics; and pathetic 
stories, written with talent, and in a manner to interest youthful readers. Each 
tale is illustrated by a clever wood engraving.”— Spectator. 


MY BOY’S FIRST BOOK. 

By the Author of “ Tales of the Great and Brave.' 

With fine Cuts. 16mo. cloth. Price 3s. Gd. 

“ A pretty little one for very young children, consisting of a number of tales 
lull of interest, yet all tending to improve the morals of the youthful reader. We 
recommend both these works as presents to all good children.”— Metropolitan Mag. 


BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 

MY BOY’S SECOND BOOK. 

With fine Cuts. lGmo. cloth. Price 3s. Gd. 


BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 


HYMNS AND SKETCHES IN VERSE. 

With fine Cuts, lfimo. cloth gilt. Price 4s. Gd. 

“ These are children s books ofavery superior character; and especially the first, 
some of the short poems in which are very beautiful. The wood-cuts by which 
they are embellished are really gems, such as but a few years ago would have as¬ 
tonished the public in works of far higher pretensions.”— Argus. 









Harvey and JDarton’s Publications 


11 


ROBINSON CRUSOE. 

With Illustrations. 12mo. doth lettered. Price 5s. 
An 18mo. edition of the same. Price 2s. 6d. 


TRIALS OF STRENGTH, 

MORAL AND PHYSICAL. 

BY MRS. BARWELL. 

Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. Price 5s. 

“ In language, and in everything else, this is a model for juvenile story-books. 
What the able writer more especially demonstrates is the difference between moral 
and physical courage.”— Metropolitan. 


STRAIGHTFORWARDNESS 
ESSENTIAL TO THE CHRISTIAN. 

BY M. A. KELTY. 

12mo. cloth lettered. Price Is. 6d. 


FIVE YEARS OF YOUTH; 

OR, 

SENSE AND SENTIMENT. 


BY HARRIET MARTINEAU, 

AUTHOR OF “ ILLUSTRATIONS OF POLITICAL ECONOMY,” &C. &C. 
12mo. cloth lettered. Price 6's. 


SELF-DEPENDENCE : A TALE. 

BY THE AUTHOR of “ROSE TALBOT;” “THE ORPHAN’S CHOICE,” &C. 

-“ Confidence then bore thee on ; secure 

Either to meet no danger or to find 
Matter of glorious trial.” 

Price 4s. (id. Foolscap 8vo. Cloth gilt. 

“ A well written story, inculcating those moral feelings which every parentmust 
wish to see his children possess. The volume is a very suitable present for youth, 
being both informing and amusing.”— Plymouth Herald. 


SETMA, THE TURKISH GIRL, 

AND 

WOODROOF, THE SWEDISH BOY. 

TRUE TALES. 

BY THE REV. C. G. BARTH. 

Foolscap 8vo. Cloth gilt. Price 3s. with Frontispiece. 

“ The spiritual piety of these tales is above all praise. Much may be learned by 
the estimation in which Christianity and her holy ordinances are held by the Turk¬ 
ish Girl; while from the Swedish Boy we have a clear view of the fundamental 
truths of Christianity, which will put to confusion many of the crude imaginings 
that but too often take the place of true religion. The little volume is admirably 
calculated for the perusal of the youth of both sexes.”—Cambridge Advertiser. 










12 


Harvey and Barton’s Publications 


VARIETY: 

A SELECTION OF ANECDOTES, HISTORICAL, BIOGRAPHICAL, AND 

MISCELLANEOUS. 

BY PRISCILLA WAKEFIELD. 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 5s. 


THE CHILD'S BOOK OF OBJECTS. 

With Coloured Illustrations. Price 3s. 6d. Cloth lettered. 


A. NEW DESCRIPTION OF THE EARTH, 

CONSIDERED CHIEFLY AS A RESIDENCE FOR MAN. 

BY JEFFREYS TAYLOR. 

With Plates, 12mo. Price 4s. 


By the same Author, 

A MONTH IN LONDON; 

OR SOME OF ITS 

MODERN WONDERS DESCRIBED. 

Witn Plates, 12nao. cloth lettered. Price 4s. 

“ A description of some of the modern wonders to be seen in the great metro¬ 
polis. The principal objects of which an account is given are the Thames, the 
Tunnel, St. Katherine’s Docks, Bridges, Gas Lights, Diorama, Colosseum, Re¬ 
gent’s Park, Zoological Gardens, British Museum, National Repository, the Ba¬ 
zaars, &c. &c. all of which must be interesting, more particularly to the little folks 
in the country .”—Edinburgh Advertiser. 


FIRESIDE STORIES; 

OR, 

RECOLLECTIONS OF MY SCHOOLFELLOWS. 

With Plates, 12mo. cloth lettered. Price 5s. 


ECONOMICAL COOKERY 
FOR YOUNG HOUSEKEEPERS. 

A new Edition. 12mo. Cloth lettered. Price 2s. 

“ This is another of those useful volumes, the success of which affords the very 
best pledge of its intrinsic value. Good and palatable dishes being commonly re¬ 
garded as forming some of the chief material elements of human happiness, the 
art of providing them without extravagance ought to be encouraged by all who 
feel an interest in the subject.”— Atlas. 


RURAL SCENES; 


OR, 


A PEEP INTO THE COUNTRY. 


A new and revised Edition, with 88 Cuts. Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. 

Price 2s. 6d. 










Harvey and Darton’s Publications. 


13 


CHILDHOOD, 

ILLUSTRATED IN A SELECTION FROM THE POETS. 
BY H. M. RATHBONE. 

Foolscap 8vo. cloth lettered. Price os. 


CITY SCENES; 

OR, A PEEP INTO LONDON. 

With many Plates, I2mo. cloth lettered. Price 3s. 6d. 

Or coloured, Price 4s. Gd. 


jroms of 32mo, LJoofcs, suitable for presents. 

In embossed roan, gilt edges. 


I. 

FRUITS AND FLOWERS. 


“ The proper culture of thy mind will yield thee more than summer fruits and 
flowers.” Price 3s. 6d. 


II. 

THE WHEATSHEAF. 

Price 2s. 6d. 

III. 

THE SHRUBBERY. 

Price 3s. 6d. 


FAMILIAR ILLUSTRATIONS 
OF THE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 

By MARIA HACK. 

18mo. cloth lettered. Price 3s. 


HINTS 

ON THE 

PORTABLE EVIDENCES OF CHRISTIANITY. 

BY JOSEPH JOHN GURNEY. 

18mo. cloth lettered. Price Is. 6d. 


HYMNS, 

SELECTED FROM VARIOUS AUTHORS, 

FOR YOUNG PERSONS. 

BY PRISCILLA GURNEY. 

32mo. cloth, gilt edges. Price 2s. 6‘d. 








14 


Harvey and Darton's Publications. 


CHILDREN’S BOOKS, 


WITH 

ILLUSTRATIONS, AND NEATLY BOUND AND LETTERED. 


PRICE m SHILLING AND SIXPENCE EACH. 

AGNES MERTON; or, how to lay out Half a Sovereign. 
By Mrs. Loudon. 

ALICE GRANT: the Two Cousins; and Fair Day. 

DON’T GIVE UP THE SHIP; or, the Good Son. 

ELEMENTARY INSTRUCTION for JUNIOR STU¬ 
DENTS. 

FANNY and her MOTHER. A Story. 

INFANT STORIES, intended to .show that to be Good is 
to be Happy. 

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